PopCap Donating To Breast Cancer Research

PopCap Games, the leading developer and publisher of casual games, announced that beginning today and continuing through May 11, 2008, the company will honor Mother's Day by donating 30% of the price of each game sold on its website to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the global leader in the fight to end breast cancer forever. The monetary goal of the Mother's Day fund-raising drive is $100,000 – and if that goal is met, all consumers who participated (by purchasing one or more games) will receive a free gift from PopCap. The promotion is site-wide, with the main informational page located at http://www.popcap.com/promos/mothersday/?cid=mom10019.

"For more than 25 years, Susan G. Komen for the Cure has been on a mission to end breast cancer forever," said Katrina McGhee, vice president of marketing at Komen for the Cure. "Partners such as PopCap are an integral part of that mission, helping us reach millions of consumers with life-saving breast health messages and raising funds that support breast cancer research and community health programs."

"For this year's Mother's Day promotion, we wanted to make a significant contribution to a cause that relates directly to mothers, and this seemed like an ideal way to do that," said Ben Rotholtz, vice president of marketing for PopCap. "Susan G. Komen for the Cure is dedicated to finding a cure for breast cancer, which obviously affects many mothers and their families. If the contribution we make saves even one life down the road, it will be a success in our eyes."

The promotion is automated from the customer's standpoint; they pay the standard price of $9.95 to $19.95 per game, and thirty percent of that purchase price is directed to the charity. Even gift certificates purchased during the promotion will apply. PopCap will reward all participating customers with a free gift if the goal of $100,000 in contributions to the charity is achieved. The promotion officially ends at midnight, Pacific Daylight Time, on May 11, 2008.

In the earliest days of the company, PopCap's founders used their own mothers as "sounding boards" for games in development. "We would set our moms down in front of PCs with early-stage versions of games such as Bejeweled, and just leave them there for awhile," recalled Jason Kapalka, one of PopCap's co-founders and the company's chief creative officer. "If they were still playing when we returned, we knew we were headed in the right direction with a game that could appeal to a very wide audience." PopCap continues to use mothers and grandmothers in the testing stages with each of its games, and more than two-thirds of the company's Beta Test Group comprises adult female consumers.

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