Games publisher PopCap has released the final version of the one-minute edition of its hit puzzle game Bejeweled for Facebook.
Bejeweled Blitz has already attracted over five million active users since the launch of its beta version on Facebook six months ago.
The firm's chief creative officer, Jason Kapalka, said: "One-minute Bejeweled was initially an in-house joke, because who'd think anyone would play a 'casual' game with such a frenzied time limit?
"But it turned out the one-minute timer actually made the game more accessible, as a bite-size entertainment for people busy doing other things on Facebook."
The firm says that three quarters of its users are female. So far more than one billion sessions of the game have been played and it attracts two million players every day.
Speaking about the new version of Bejeweled, PopCap's John Vechey said: "The social nature of the game felt like the missing link. Playing Bejeweled on your own was always fun, but playing with and against family and friends takes it to another level."
Meanwhile, the company is tight-lipped about future plans for the "social" versions of its other games.
Copyright © Press Association 2009
