PopCap is a casual gaming force here in the U.S., with a portfolio that includes some of the most successful titles on the market: Bejeweled, Peggle, Zuma and Bookworm just to name a few.

But the success that PopCap has seen across consoles, mobiles and PC is Western-centric. Backed by a team at PopCap"s Shanghai, China location, which opened earlier this month, newly-appointed Asia/Pacific boss Gwertzman is ready to tackle the burgeoning Asian casual market.

PopCap had previously established a business development staff in Korea and Singapore. Gwertzman, who had worked for Microsoft in Tokyo, started up two game companies and previously worked in business development for PopCap, has been eyeing Asia since he joined the casual game maker in 2005.

"The first trip to China, I saw people playing games like Zuma and Bejeweled 2 in Internet cafes. So with no effort or localization on our part, the games are still getting over there. But now we have to figure out how to build a real business there."

A May 2008 report from Niko Partners found that China"s 46 million gamers spent mmoabc.7 billion on online games in 2007, a rise of 71 percent over 2006. Casual game segments made up 21 percent of total revenues, with online revenue expected to rise from $2.5 billion this year to $6 billion in 2012 in the region

In order to tap into that market, PopCap will have to tailor its products for Asia, where online gaming"s popularity is growing by leaps and bounds--and where piracy is a major problem.

PopCap"s approach to the region, like other Western game companies entering Asia, circumvents piracy by taking products online. Gwertzman said his division will be adopting the "free-to-play" microtransaction-based model. Gamers will be able to pay for items, avatars or other elements online to enhance the gameplay experience.

The casual games market in Asia has been about game companies standing on each others" shoulders to get to the top, Gwertzman suggests. He adds that Asian casual game companies have heavily borrowed gameplay mechanics from PopCap titles, and dropped their derivative games into some highly-innovative business models.

Gwertzman believes PopCap can take the best of its own original game ideas and combine them with proven Asian business models.

"It"s our turn to come to China and start with their business models, and innovate on top of that," he says. "We"ve got a pretty strong lineup of PopCap games coming out."

PopCap has been cautious in its approach of the Asian market. Some may even question why PopCap, one of the most prolific purveyors of multiplatform mass market casual games in the West, has waited this long to enter China, which is now flooded with competitors.

"This expansion was not going to be where we just hired a bunch of sales guys on the ground," explains Gwertzman. "We had to make some pretty major changes to our business models and everything we do, and that requires a significant investment.

"...A lot of Western companies going into Asia spend a lot of money with mixed results. And we didn"t want to repeat the same mistakes."

PopCap officially made the decision to dive into China about a year ago. Today, the company has 15 locally-hired people in the new Shanghai office.

"There"s no way we can be the leading developer and publisher of casual games worldwide and not be in Asia," says Gwertzman. "The market is too huge to ignore. We have to be there."

PopCap will begin launching products in Asia during the course of this year, gauging the successes and shortcomings of new releases.

"The most important thing we have is to be flexible," Gwertzman adds. "We"re really trying to go into this very humbly."

Pic: Evergreen Events" OGDC gallery.