Publisher EA seems to be teasing something Plants vs. Zombies related on its website, as evidenced by a countdown timer advertising a new game called Plants vs. Zombies Battle for Neighborville. As of September 3, 2019 the countdown timer has around 21 hours left, signaling that we’ll hear more from EA on September 4th at 9 am Pacific. We already knew about Battle for Neighborville, thanks to a trademark filed by EA in August, but now its existence is more official.
Battle for Neighborville is effectively the third title in the Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare series, and while it may not bear the name Garden Warfare 3, numerous leaks from the closed technical community alpha have all but confirmed this is the next evolution in the online third-person shooter formula that blossomed from the original mobile title.
Back in July of 2019, a leaked email surfaced online, pointing to a new PVZ game codenamed “Picnic.” An excerpt from it reads:
Hey Plants and Zombies!
Get involved in the Community Playtesting program for a chance to be invited to the upcoming playtest for the new Plants vs. Zombies shooter (codenamed Picnic), made by the team that created PvZ Garden Warfare!
While Picnic never received an official name during the alpha playtest, Battle for Neighborville’s graphics on the site match up with a number of the leaks from players’ time with Picnic, including screenshots and gameplay video (since removed by EA).
Plants vs. Zombies originated as a mobile tower defense game in 2009 and subsequently released for nearly every platform imaginable. Since then, the series has seen multiple iterations, including the class-based online hero shooter sub-series, Garden Warfare. This play on words pokes fun at the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series, giving players a more family-friendly (but no less competitive) online shooter experience.
The latest entry, Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2, released for PS4 in 2016 to positive reviews. We enjoyed it here at PSLS, especially its different characters, modes, and improvements to the first entry.
[Source: EA]
