Android owners have been patiently waiting for Plants vs Zombies 2 ever since the game was launched on iOS in August, and while the game was released in a limited fashion in China only earlier this month, there has been no timetable for the worldwide Android roll-out in sight. According to Polygon’s sources however, that wait might soon be over, giving the release of the highly anticipated sequel a rough release window of October.
This clearly looks to be yet another case of iOS favouritism which is almost a staple in the mobile gaming world by now, however there are rumours swirling that Apple actually gave money to EA to delay the release of the Android version. According to Giant Bomb, at an EA internal meeting , Frank Gibeau, head of EA labels, is quoted as saying “Apple gave us a truckload of money to delay the Android version [of Plants vs Zombies 2]”, which has been confirmed by several other sources. Apple however has said that this story is false, and developer PopCap has stayed silent on the matter so far.
If true, the situation might not be as black and white as it would appear as it’s commonly accepted that some publishers will organise exclusive game release rights with a certain platform, so it’s entirely possible this is actually the case. Whatever the real reason is, it’s just another piece of frustrating news for a burgeoning base of Android gamers. What are your thoughts on exclusive game release rights, think they should exist? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Source: Polygon, Giant Bomb via VG247 (1), (2)
