TheNintendo Partner Showcasethat aired this week surprisingly revealed the return of the popularPlants vs. Zombiesfranchise, with a “Replanted” remake. It appearsEAdidn’t try to recruit the original artists for the remake, however, and now they’re mad.
Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted is an upcoming remake of the fan-favorite tower defense title from 2009, which sees scores of garden heroes wipe the floor with encroaching zombies in the name of defending your soil. The last title in the series was Battle for Neighborville, and that launched in 2019, so when the remake was announced, it was undoubtedly a welcome surprise for fans and anyone who hadn’t had a chance to engage in garden warfare. Everyone except the former artists in the original, that is.
EA acquired Plants vs. Zombies development studio, PopCap, over 10 years ago and since then, there has been no word on a remake of the original. Which is why the original artist on the 2009 title, Rich Werner, took to Twitter (found byGamesRadar+) to confirm he has not been asked to return at any capacity for the remake, but would have if given the option.
Werner states, “Just saw the post about PVZ reboot. It’s cool, but wish someone would at least contact me. Kinda sux. I’d be down to help with it.. whatever, I guess” in a downtrodden post that shows a clear lack of communication between EA and Werner.
Former Plants vs. Zombies Artists Feel Replaced Over Replanted
In the post thread, another original Plants vs. Zombies artist, Enrique Corts, has joined the chat to corroborate Werner’s claims, and he also says EA never contacted him for help on the remake. Corts said, “I was the background artist for the original PvZ too and it felt super weird seeing all my work like redone in HD and of course I had nothing to do with it. Would’ve been happy to do those reworks myself.”
The back and forth between Werner and Corts continued over the mutual love for creating the original Plants vs. Zombies, as both artists appeared to like working on the 2009 title. One fan posted to the thread with a screenshot of the Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted Steam page, and it claims Replanted includes “Explore a new Art and Concept Library, featuring never-before-seen pre-production sketches and game history.”
This is a surprise to Werner, who knows nothing about the inclusion of original artwork. He called the mention of pre-production sketches “wild,” and he doesn’t know how EA would get the artwork without making contact.
Werner admitted in the thread that he “just happened to work for PopCap as an employee,” and he maintains no rights to the development of Plants vs. Zombies. With all of that being said, EA has not made any statements regarding the online turbulence of the original artists who worked on Plants vs. Zombies.
