WildTangent signs exclusive global ad deal with PopCap

PopCap titles such as Peggle, Zuma and Bejewelled are already available on WildTangent's wildgames.come portal and available on those PCs which the firm's game console software pre-installed - but the new deal pushes the PopCap games out to new platforms supported by WildTangent's network, which includes the iPhone.

Under the terms of the agreement, WildTangent will handle global ad sales for PopCap. The move takes the firm's network of unique games to over 50 million reached every month around the world. WildTangent also said that "the partnership strengthens WildTangent's reach against casual female gamers in the 25 to 54-year-old demographic" courtesy of titles like Bejewelled, which has been downloaded over 250 million times by women alone.

Dave Madden, executive vice president of WildTangent, commented: "Adding PopCap.com to our rapidly growing network dramatically increases the depth and breadth of advertising solutions we can now build for online marketers both in the U.S. and around the world."

WildTangent has similar agreements with Jagex for Runescape, Artix's Adventure Quest and FreeOnlineGames.com. Its advertising base includes the likes of Coca-Cola, Disney, EA, Hasbro, Honda, GM, Sprint, Unilever, Kimberly-Clark, Fox, Paramount and Warner Bros.

"WildTangent's sales team offers us unprecedented opportunities to further monetize the hundreds of millions of hours consumers spend on our site each year," added John Vechey, co-founder and director of PC and online operations at PopCap. "By partnering with WildTangent, we keep our focus on developing great games while still reaping the benefits of the enormous amount of ad dollars marketers are spending in online games."