Plants vs. Zombies 2 delayed for further server testing and price model balancing

The launch of the upcoming PopCap title Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time was delayed so the developers could test the title through numerous servers, senior producer Allen Murray said in an interview with Polygon.

The company wants to test the game's foundations including its back end server capacity, cloud saving system, and cash shop options, before releasing the game widely. Murray said that while the game does not require an internet connection, gamers can take advantage of its numerous features if connected online. "You can save your progress and share accounts across multiple devices--and we need to make sure those systems, along with our ability to stream that content to players, works."

Murray said that PopCap needs to stabilize and tweak its pricing models. Gamers who are participating in the soft launch in Australia and New Zealand later today will see price fluctuations in the cash shop.

Murray said the soft launch was set in those two countries because the company does not know how stable the backend servers are. "If we had more players than we could account for, some of the systems might fall over. We want to be double confident, so we're testing it in a smaller region. This allows us to have a more controlled testing player base and determine how to keep the game healthy, then map that to the expected growth when we launch worldwide."

Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time had a release date of July 18 before getting pushed back to late summer.