Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted: Remastering a Classic, New Modes, Co-Op, and Zero Microtransactions
Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted – The PopCap Team on Remastering a Classic, New Modes, and Why It Still Works
By GeeksVsGeeks
When Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted lurches onto modern platforms on October 23, 2025, it will do so with a mission that’s both simple and daunting: make the game you remember, not the one that actually existed in 2009.
We spoke with Matt Townsend, Nicholas Reinhart, and Jake Neri from the PopCap team about faithfully updating a beloved classic for today’s consoles and PCs. The trio walked us through Replanted’s visual upgrades, new modes, co-op features, and the surprisingly tricky task of changing nothing important while changing almost everything else.
“It’s a Remaster, Not a Remake”
From the start of our conversation, the developers wanted to be clear about what Replanted is, and isn’t.
“This is a remaster of the original. It’s not a remake… we took that source code… brought it up to modern standards,” the team told us.
That decision shaped the project’s philosophy: polish and modernize without breaking the balance or charm that made the original an instant classic.
“The thing we were not willing to compromise on was changing any of the core mechanics… it was about remastering what was there, not reinventing it.”
That means sunflowers still fuel your economy, walnuts still hold the line, and buckethead zombies still ruin your day, just in much sharper detail. On top of that, one of the first things players will notice is how Replanted looks. The remaster runs in 4K resolution with ultrawide support, making full use of modern displays.
“You’ll notice… this has been lovingly up-rezzed into 4K… this also fits widescreen now… and ultrawide,” the devs explained.
Updating every frame wasn’t trivial. The art team hand-tuned legacy assets to ensure nothing felt out of place. “Going through and hand-touching up these old art assets and animations has been a labor of love.” The result? A lawn that looks like the one you remember from 2009, but sharper, smoother, and better suited for modern systems.
New Modes: From Cloudy Days to Permadeath Runs
While Replanted remains faithful to the original, it introduces new challenges like Cloudy Day and Rest In Peace mode. The latter is aimed squarely at veterans:
“Rest in Peace mode is a permadeath mode… Dave is picking half of your plants… if you are unable to complete a level, then you have to go all the way back to the beginning.”
This isn’t just a difficulty spike; Crazy Dave’s random plant picks add chaos and replayability. “He’s cheeky about it,”
The Whole Package: Mini-Games, PvP, and 100% More Butter
The remaster includes everything fans loved:
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Mini-games (including Walnut Bowling, intact and just as hilarious)
And yes, the official EA page promises “100% more BUTTER”, a nod to the Colonel Corn mechanics that let you slow zombies by buttering them mid-attack. Even Walnut Bowling remains unchanged and just as fun.
Playing Together: Co-Op, Inputs, and Nintendo Game Share
The team confirmed flexible input options across platforms, including touchscreen, mouse, and controller support.
“Touch screen, mouse control… controllers here too… all sorts of inputs.”
Local couch co-op and Nintendo game share support mean Switch players can battle zombies together across two systems.
“It’s going to be couch co-op… supports Nintendo game share as well… if you have two Switches you can share across.”
No Microtransactions. No DLC.
Perhaps the single most surprising (and welcome) statement of the interview:
“There’s no microtransactions, no DLC planned… This is not Plants vs. Zombies live service.”
Instead, the team focused on creating what they called a “tight package” that respects both the original game and modern players.
Pre-Orders, Cosmetics, and Launch Details
The game launches October 23, 2025 for Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC (EA app, Steam, Epic Games Store) at $19.99 USD.
Jake also wanted to ensure the fact that despite resisting future DLC or season passes, there is a little extra incentive to pre-order the game. If you get your order in early you will be rewarded with a retro peashooter cosmetic and everyone gets retro "brown-coat" zombie skin with their copy of the game.
“The retro Peashooter is for folks that preorder, but the game will also include a retro brown code zombie that everybody will have access to.”
Why It Still Works
When asked why Plants vs. Zombies endures after all these years, the team kept circling back to charm, accessibility, and tight design:
“The core loop is just so tight… you enter into flow very easily… it feels very good.”
“It doesn’t matter your age or ability in games, this runs a really smooth… experience.”
The teams goal Cleary wasn’t to modernize for modernity’s sake, but to preserve the magic of the original as faithful as possible but fit for modern systems and modern screens.
“We have to make it as good as people remember it… you have to make it good, but you can’t change it.”
Final Thoughts
After playing the remaster ourselves, we were struck by how quickly it felt right . The D-pad controls, ultrawide support, and buttery (literally) mechanics all fell into place like that old winter coat you had hanging in the attic for so many years. and even the looks of the game are how we remember, even though in reality the original looks a lot worse these days.
“We had to deliver the perfectly balanced experience people remember, and let a new generation feel the magic.”
With extra game modes, local co-op, retro cosmetics, and a clear “no microtransactions” promise, Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted looks set to delight veterans and newcomers alike when it arrives this October. Is it worth to rebuy the same game again? That can only be answered by the players themselves. However the team's love for the game, enthusiasm and care for its history are undeniable. And every bit of it shined in the demo we played.
If you want to see the whole video you can check it out on our YouTube channel.
About the writer: DadGeek (Rob) is the co-founder of GeeksVsGeeks. He is a product of the eighties and never let go of his geek interest and hobbies no matter how often someone told him to stop. His love for gaming and all things geeks has been part of his parenting style and permeates throughout the whole family. A family of Geeks vs Geeks
