EA has announced a significant change for Plants vs. Zombies 3, confirming that the game is undergoing a “major overhaul” and will be taken offline as the developer reconfigures the game.
Plants vs. Zombies 3 had a soft-launch earlier this year, and EA said it feels grateful for the “enthusiasm and feedback” that players sent in during this early testing period. With that feedback in mind, EA said it has decided to “re-tool the game” with the aim of making an “even better” experience.
EA turned off in-app purchases for Plants vs. Zombies 3 on October 15, and the game is no longer available to download. November 15, 2024 will be the final day to play Plants vs. Zombies 3 in its current iteration. After this, servers will go down and the game won’t be playable to anyone, anywhere.
Players who earned or bought coins with real money will have those balances saved for when the game comes back. However, all game progress, boosts, and narrative elements are being reset.
Plants vs. Zombies 3 had its soft-launch earlier this year in the UK, Netherlands, Australia, and the Philippines. The original aim was to have the game’s full release later in 2024, but those plans have now changed.
Unlike the more recent Garden Warfare series of shooters, Plants vs. Zombies 3 goes back to the series’ roots and is another tower-defense game. Players must protect Neighborville from encroaching zombies, setting up the usual sorts of garden-based traps and defenses with returning favorite plants alongside new ones.
Plants vs. Zombies 3, from developer PopCap, was first announced in 2019, so it’s been a long time coming, and now the wait is even longer for the final product.
Plants vs. Zombies first released in 2009, and the brand became a hit for PopCap. Plants vs. Zombies 2 released on mobile devices in 2013, centering around a time-travel plot. It received a mostly positive critical reception, but the Garden Warfare spin-off the following year quickly became the new face of PvZ for the last several years. The studio also released a card battler, Plants vs Zombies Heroes, in 2016.