SEATTLE, WA.- PopCap Games, the leading developer and publisher of casual games, today announced a first-of-its kind Peggle™ Art Contest, with the top submissions being immortalized in a future installment of the cult classic casual video game. The contest, which opens today and runs through June 3, 2009, is one element of Peggle Fever, a months-long celebration of all things Peggle. Peggle Fever will include other contests and sweepstakes while celebrating the arrival of new adaptations of Peggle for Nintendo DS (arriving today in the U.S.), Apple’s iPhone, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and XBLA service, and more.

Available to residents of the 50 United States (and District of Columbia) and the United Kingdom, the Peggle Art Contest will award more than $10,000 in prizes, including trips for the top submitters to visit PopCap’s Seattle headquarters, spending sprees at Best Buy, limited edition Peggle merchandise, and iPhones and Xbox 360s with Peggle pre-installed. Entries can involve any aspect of the game’s artistic elements, from background scenes to drawn or written descriptions of new Peggle Masters and power-ups, to level designs (peg layouts). Full details of the contest, including entry forms and rules, can be found at www.popcap.com/promos/peggleart. Entries can be submitted electronically or by mail.

“We get a lot of fan mail from Peggle devotees, including lots of suggestions for background art, new Peggle characters and power-ups, and level designs, and thought an art contest would be a fun way to foster and tap into that creativity and enthusiasm for the game,” said Sukhbir Sidhu, co-creator of Peggle and studio director at PopCap. “We’re excited to see what the rabid Peggle community comes up with in the way of ideas!”

Digital contest submissions must be no larger than 5 megabytes in size and analog submissions must arrive on a sheet of paper or other material no larger than 8.5 inches by 11 inches and be no thicker than 4 inches. Nearly any type of ink or paint can be used, from finger-paints or colored pencils to ballpoint pens and magic markers. Judging will be conducted by members of PopCap’s art department and development studio, who will weigh creativity and feasibility of submissions along with artistic talent. No copyrighted or trademarked imagery – other than visual elements found in the Peggle games themselves – will be accepted. A sampling of submissions from each week of the contest may be posted to the contest microsite and prizes will be awarded to the top two dozen entries (twelve per age group). Both “adult” (age 18 and over) and “youth” (13 to 17) categories are available, with twelve winners being named from each age group.