Most mobile consumers' first experience with PopCap games likely came in the format of original PC titles such as Bejeweled and Plants vs. Zombies, but the 10 year old publisher has worked on almost every platform going at some point in its history.

So news that its mobile output now accounts for a quarter of its total business is significant therefore, with CEO Dave Roberts stating that PopCap's performance on iPhone has surprised even him.

"We are seeing new stuff like Facebook is reaching millions and millions of people and iPhone has been huge for us," Roberts told TechFlash.

"I continue to be amazed at how much business we do on the iPhone. About a quarter of our business is mobile, in general."

Jumping on Java

Roberts points out that iPhone isn't the firm's only - nor most significant - mobile interest, however.

Confirming that PopCop will soon be branching out to Android, he revealed Java and BREW both remain an important part of the publisher's business.

"We sell a lot of Java/BREW games," he said. "Bejeweled has been around a long enough time now, and it has always been at the top of the charts of the Java/BREW business."

Socially aware

The success of PopCap's mobile output is, in Roberts' view, part of a wider push for socially connected games.

Indeed, Facebook has been just as much of a force for change at PopCap as iPhone in Roberts' book, with 15 percent of the publisher's revenue now coming from titles on web-based platforms.

When combined with its releases on mobile, the firm's social games will soon be the main focus of PopCap's business.

"That's where a lot of the growth is, on the social side. And even if we don't see pure revenue growth, just the exposure we are seeing in Facebook has helped.

"We launched Bejeweled Twist for the DS this year, and we had kind of written off the DS just because it is so hard to make money on cartridges in retail.

"But I think we are on our seventh reprinting of it in eight months... I attribute that to just the general awareness of Bejeweled and the brand, which has really been helped by our 36 million Facebook users."

[source: TechFlash]