Bejeweled(R) Meets Bingo

LONDON, August 12, 2010 /PRNewswire/ --

- Gamesys Brings Together Household Favourites for First Time

Following on from MONOPOLY Snap and Family Fortunes Team Bingo, Gamesys are proud to announce the launch of another first: this week, Bejeweled(R) Bingo launches on Jackpotjoy, bringing all the fun from PopCap's hugely popular Match 3 game, Bejeweled, to Gamesys' speciality product, Bingo.

"The challenge of creating Bejeweled Bingo was really quite unique," explains Jackpotjoy head Adele Lawton. "The two games have proven themselves over so many years that we had to be very careful not to change either too much.

"In the end, we decided not to affect the basic game mechanics and instead focussed on allowing members the chance to enjoy the two games sequentially, with each experience building on the last."

The rules of Bejeweled Bingo are simple:

Players buy tickets and then enjoy a game of 90 Ball Bingo, playing for 1 line, 2 line and Full House prizes as normal. At the end of the game, players that have purchased a minimum of 6 tickets are invited to take part in the Bejeweled Challenge Round - a one minute long game of Bejeweled that offers players the chance to win free cards for the next Bingo game if either their individual or community score beats the respective target scores.

"It's a wonderful hybrid," Adele smiles. "We don't detract from the playability of either game, we're not trying to reinvent the wheel, though there are two key benefits from the new model:

"The first advantage is that because we're using the previous game to get members involved in the next one, we're expecting to see session times extend.

"Secondly, the minute long game of Bejeweled is a really exciting addition to the Bingo. It offers another chance to win even after the Bingo's finished, and it's a chance to win that's personal and skill based which means everyone's got the chance to enjoy a real sense of achievement which they can practice at and achieve with.

"All in all, I think the game offers something for everyone, and we're all very proud of it."

Bejeweled Bingo is the first of several games that PopCap are creating with Gamesys.

"There is a clear overlap in customer demographics - many Bejeweled players also love to play bingo and vice versa. We are delighted to work with the talented team at Gamesys, market leaders in online Bingo/Gaming, to allow players to enjoy both games simultaneously", added Mark Cochrane, PopCap's European Business Development Director

Bejeweled Bingo launches this week on Jackpotjoy.com and its partner sites. The site celebrates the launch by offering GBP2,500 a day in Guaranteed Jackpots.

For more response to the game, please see the Jackpotjoy Blog at http://blog.jackpotjoy.com/2010/08/06/jackpotjoy-free-card-bejeweled/

For the chance to play the game please visit http://www.jackpotjoy.com

    For more details on the game please see:
http://www.jackpotjoy.com/viewgames/home-top

or http://www.jackpotjoy.com/games/bejeweledbingo

For more information on Jackpotjoy's winners please see http://www.jackpotjoy.com/winners/stories or http://www.jackpotjoywinners.com

GAMESYS

The Gamesys Group was founded by Noel Hayden in April 2001 with a small team of developers. The aim was to build a profitable online entertainment business providing Instant Win, Bingo and Casino games to a worldwide audience using proprietary gaming software.

After eight years, the Group's leading brand, Jackpotjoy.com, has built an audience of over 3,000,000 members and pays out in excess of GBP90 million every month. The success of Jackpotjoy.com has established the Gamesys Group as one of the UK's leading online gaming businesses. In 2006 they were named No. 1 in the Microsoft/Sunday Times Tech Track 100 League Table, and they're now one of only four companies to have appeared on the list four years in a row. This feat reflects both the company's capacity for sustained growth and its remarkable resilience during periods of financial instability.

For more information on the Gamesys Group please see http://www.gamesyscorporate.com/press_releases.php

POPCAP GAMES

PopCap Games (http://www.popcap.com) is the leading multi-platform provider of casual video games: fun, easy-to-learn, captivating games that appeal to everyone from age 6 to 106 and are available anytime, anywhere. Based in Seattle, Washington, PopCap was founded in 2000 and has a worldwide staff of more than 300 people in Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Vancouver, B.C., Dublin, Seoul, and Shanghai. Its games have been downloaded over 1.5 billion times by consumers worldwide, and its flagship title, Bejeweled, has sold more than 50 million units across all platforms. Constantly acclaimed by consumers and critics, PopCap's games are played on the Web, social platforms, desktop computers, myriad mobile devices (cell phones, smartphones, PDAs, Pocket PCs, iPod, iPhone, iPad and more), popular game consoles (such as Xbox and DS), and in-flight entertainment systems. PopCap has been one of the most innovative companies in the video industry since its inception a decade ago. Pioneering new game mechanics, sales models, and platforms ranging from mobile devices to online and location-based games of chance, PopCap is the only video game provider in the world with leading market share across the entire spectrum.

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The PopCap logo and all other trademarks used herein that are listed at http://www.popcap.com/trademarks are owned by PopCap Games, Inc. or its licensors and may be registered in some countries Other company and product names used herein may be trademarks of their respective owners and are used for the benefit of those owners.

    Visit: http://www.bejeweledbingo.com

    CONTACT:
    Lee Fenton
    Gamesys
    +44(0)20-7478-8100
    [email protected]

    Cathy Orr
    PopCap Games
    +353-1-646-8107
    [email protected]

SOURCE Gamesys