Plants vs. Zombies 3

Plants vs. Zombies 3: Welcome to Zomburbia (also known as simply Plants vs Zombies 3) is a 2024 tower defense mobile game developed by PopCap Games and published by Electronic Arts. It is the third game in the franchise's tower defense series, released on iOS and Android devices on January 17, 2024. It is the first game in the franchise to incorporate the main characters of the Plants vs. Zombies comic book series, written by Paul Tobin and published by Dark Horse Comics since 2013. The game follows Patrice Blazing as she returns to Neighborville to find it overtaken by Dr. Zomboss, teaming up with her best friend Nate Timely and her uncle Dave's plant army to face them.

Plants vs. Zombies 3: Welcome To Zomburbia
Developer(s)	PopCap Games
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Composer(s)	Barry Dowsett[1]
Series	Plants vs. Zombies
Platform(s)	Android, iOS
Release	January 17, 2024
Genre(s)	Tower defense

Plants vs. Zombies 3 was released in a limited alpha test in July 2019 and was soft launched in select regions in February 2020.^[2] The game was redone completely and was soft launched on Android in Australia and the Philippines.^[3] The game was re-released in April 2022,^[4] and another soft launch was released in October 2022.^[5] On January 17, 2024, EA announced that the game would be soft launched in more regions until being launched worldwide.^[6][7][8]

Gameplay

Plants vs. Zombies 3 is a tower defense game where players defend the left side of the screen from hordes of zombies approaching from the right. The player uses various plants with different abilities to combat these zombies. Some plants attack zombies directly while others are designed to slow them down, allowing the player to attack them. The game is set on a five-row grid, where the player places plants to prevent the zombies from reaching the end of each row. Plants are purchased using "sun," a currency obtained by clicking sun icons that randomly drop from the sky or are produced by certain plants, like Sunflowers. Over time and with more zombies defeated, Grapes of Wrath gets activated, throwing explosive grapes over the lawn. If a zombie breaches all lines of defense first, Mo the Smart Lawn Mower will activate on that respective zombie's lawn and defeat all zombies within it. However, if another zombie breaches again, the game is over. Unlike its predecessor, Plants vs Zombies 2 (2013), this installment takes place in Crazy Dave's hometown, Suburbia, with its protagonist Patrice Blazing and her uncle Crazy Dave as they try to restore Suburbia back from the antagonist, Dr. Edgar Zomboss.

Losing a level results in losing a life, represented with brains; losing all five brains renders the player unable to play again until their brain "health" bar replenishes. When a level is complete, gravestones will emerge from where zombies were defeated and break to reveal coins. Coins can be used to purchase power-ups. Completing a level awards a Taco Ticket, which can be used to activate tasks to progress the story and restore parts of the lawn. Activating enough tasks will finish the day and award a lunch box containing goodies.

Development

Plants vs. Zombies 3 had started its development as early as 2016, with various concepts created by digital artist Jason Brown.^[9] The game was expected to be released in the fourth quarter of 2017 according to the China Licensing Expo 2017.^{[citation needed]} On July 16, 2019, PopCap announced the existence of the game and that a pre-alpha was coming soon for players to give feedback,^[10] adapting the Dark Horse Comics Plants vs. Zombies series by Paul Tobin and featuring Patrice Blazing as the player character.^[11] The pre-alpha was closed on February 10, 2020 and was soft launched to select countries on February 25, 2020.^{[citation needed]}

Criticism

With the soft-launch on 2020, the game's creative choices received major criticism. Examples were its art style switching from 2D to 3D, the game set to portrait orientation, the non-linear progression system, the overhaul of the game's sun system, and the game's unfair difficulty system.^{[citation needed]} In response to criticism towards the game, PopCap decided to redo the game from scratch, which was soft launched on September 7, 2021.^[12]

The game would release soft launch updates from then to October 12, 2022. The game went silent for more than a year, with some speculating that the game was cancelled. However, the game received another soft launch on January 17, 2024 with the name Plants vs. Zombies 3: Welcome to Zomburbia, with Nate Timely added as a playable character alongside Patrice.^{[citation needed]}

On October 16, 2024, EA took Plants vs. Zombies 3 offline for a "major overhaul".^[13] On January 14, 2025, the official Twitter account for the franchise would post the "EA Player Pulse" poll, asking for feedback regarding the game.^[14] On February 7, EA would seek fan input regarding a second art style change, with three different styles to select from (including the current art style). Fans could choose which image they prefer by using a hashtag on social media, along with a brief sentence explaining why they preferred said art style.^[15]