Crispy Gamer News

PopCap Games announced today that it will ship the first 500 boxed, retail copies of its new release, Bejeweled Twist to the non-profit Games For Soldiers organization tomorrow. GFS will deliver the boxed copies of the game to armed services personnel stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan in time for soldiers in the field to enjoy it during the holiday season. Meanwhile, for the rest of us, Bejeweled Twist will hit retail shelves next Tuesday.

“We really appreciate PopCap’s generous contribution – one of several the company has made to our organization – and are ramping up to distribute copies of Bejeweled Twist to soldiers in the field by mid-December, just in time for the holidays,” said Jesse Williams, founder of Games For Soldiers and Army National Guard soldier who returned home from a deployment to Afghanistan earlier this year. “So-called ‘casual’ games like Bejeweled, Peggle and Zuma are hugely popular with military personnel of all ages, ranks and backgrounds. These games lend themselves to the occasional and haphazard ‘down time’ common to military life in combat areas, and provide some distraction and even stress relief in what are often high-adrenaline and/or high anxiety environments.”

SPC Williams first began contacting video game publishers while stationed in Afghanistan, securing donations to help outfit his unit’s MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) center. After returning home, he founded the Games For Soldiers organization, which has shipped thousands of video games to armed services personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2008, to both individual soldiers and base recreation centers and Internet cafes. While there are dozens of organizations chartered with distributing books, toiletries, snacks and other items to U.S. Armed Services personnel, Games For Soldiers is the only entity that is specifically focused on donating video games to the troops.

Tags: Bejeweled, Bejeweled Twist, Casual, Industry, PopCap Games