Plants Vs Zombies turns 16 in its latest anniversary
Oh, how they've grown
- Plants vs Zombies is 16 and still going (relatively) strong
- Take a look back at some of our reviews of the iconic mobile series
- With PvZ 3 still floating in soft launch, players are hungrier than ever for a return to form
It's been 16 years since the very first release of Plants Vs Zombies. And now, more than a decade and-a-half onwards, we get to look back at the seminal mobile classic to see how it's grown. From humble beginnings, through to turbulent acquisitions and going beyond mobile, there's a reason PvZ can be considered an icon of gaming.
Obviously, the story starts with developer Popcap Games back in the late 2000s, with the release of Plants Vs Zombies on desktop in 2009. However, it was arguably the shift both to mobile in 2010 and the use of a free-to-play model that shot PvZ to superstardom.
Later in 2012, EA would acquire Popcap, and despite a turbulent switch of focus to mobile that saw a number of layoffs, PvZ as a franchise would quickly become an emblem of mobile with the release of Plants vs Zombies 2: It's About Time in 2013.
EA had big ambitions for the PvZ franchise, and foresaw it becoming a cornerstone of console gaming too. Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare and Plants Vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville coming out to a mix of reactions, especially given how radically different their third-person shooter-style gameplay was to the original.
Plants vs Zombies 3: Welcome to Zomburbia, meanwhile, has been in the works since 2020 and is currently back in the lab with a recent major overhaul, taking the soft-launched release offline. At the same time, it promises to be a return to form for the series with a brand-new art style and the return of classic tower defence gameplay.
Meanwhile, if you're looking to dig into the genre that Plants Vs Zombies arguably popularised on mobile, why not check out our list of the top 25 best tower defence games on iOS and Android to see what's available?
