Plants vs. Zombies 3 entering soft launch

PopCap Games has announced Plants vs. Zombies 3 has left the pre-alpha stage and is entering soft launch in select territories. 

The game is featuring “classic, lane-based tower defense combat,” but is incorporating “social play, faster combat, and deeper synergies for the plant team” that will make it different compared to the original PvZ or PvZ 2. 

This is why it is “not meant to replace” them, and Plants vs. Zombies 2 will still be receiving updates for the time being.

Among the changes long time fans can expect, PopCap Games says, “you’re no longer required to place Sunflower on your lawn to keep your plant army pumping.”

PvZ 3 is not coming in landscape mode but is only offering portrait mode because doing so “allows you to more easily play with one hand and provides smoother transitions between the game and other applications.”

The team transitioned to 3D graphics so that the game could show more detailed characters, but also because it “wanted to provide our brand with more flexibility and artistic opportunities for the future.”

The soft launch will begin in the Philippines, with more countries joining “as time goes on.” Players will be required an Android Galaxy S6 tier-device with KitKat (4.4) or higher, or an iPhone 6S or higher device with at least iOS 13.1 or higher to participate in the soft launch.

The EA studio doesn’t “have a set date” for the final release but, with the soft launch already happening, players shouldn’t expect to wait much longer.

The pre-alpha had gone live in July last year, so the development team had several months to start ironing out issues and figuring out the direction for their latest main entry in the series.

The franchise has recently released the third game in the third-person shooter spin-off console and PC series, Battle for Neighborville.