Hey Zombie Zappers! 🧟⚡

Plants vs. Zombies 3: Evolved sprouted into Early Access a little over a month ago, and today we have a fresh update storming in with new content. And, thanks to your feedback, we have lots of gameplay tweaks creeping toward the lawn later this month.

What’s Sprouting in CU1?

New Plants Unleashed! ⚡

The hero of our new Plant Pass is Zapture, a dramatic, volatile, and gleefully dangerous Tier 3 plant. As an amphibious plant, Zapture flexes its power on land but excels on water, jolting through multiple opponents with bolts of electricity like a hot fork through butter. It would have been a knife through butter, but all of Dave’s knives are in the dishwasher.

Zapture is created by merging Tier 2 Lightning Reed and our other new plant, Tier 2 Prick-erel Weed. Prick-erel Weed is another amphibious plant created by merging Tangle Kelp and Spikeweed. While it deals more damage in water, it’s a powerful groundcover plant that deals more damage to more zombies in a 3x3 space around itself. It’s a great reminder to always wear your cowboy boots when you go swimming.

New Zombie Trouble! 📺

Two new undead baddies will be shambling your way in this update - the mischievous Z-Scout Campers, and a new Zombomination, Buzz Box. 

Z-Scout Campers are mischievous imps who quickly befriended one another, caused mayhem, and now are set to form a conga line of destruction directly aimed at you. They’re perpetually playing a game of Follow the Leader, but are easily distractible, so they are not sure who the leader is at any given time! The survival courses they took happened to not cover what to do in case of chain lightning attack, so, you know what to do. 

Facing a staggering drop in productivity, Dr. Zomboss confiscated the zombies’ TV and fused it with a Beekeeper Zombie, creating the Buzz Box. Buzz Box is a large, threatening piece of technology that will take its bad attitude out on you with swarms of angry bees. This insectoid intruder stalks the air, hypnotizing its victims with must-flee TV before closing-in for the final cut. Between attacks, Buzz-Box airs original programming from the ZTV Network like "Everybody Loves Brainz" and "Who's the Zomboss?" Its flying mechanical minions, the ZomBees, swarm protectively around their commander, making getting close a painful proposition!

New Content 🎉

• Adventure 2: Issue 3, with 50 new adventure levels.
• 20 Lawn Patrol levels featuring the notorious mischief makers, Z-Scout Campers.
• 5 additional Expedition levels set in the camp biome.

Fixes 🛠️

• Fix: Umbrella Leaf now properly protects ground plants from overhead attacks.
• Fix: Screen Door Zombie and Umbrella / Parasol Zombie sound effects no longer play at deafening levels.
• Fix: Pigeon Feeder Zombie no longer looks stretched in the Almanac.
• Fix: Updated Sling Pea almanac entry to correctly state that it hits 3 zombies.
• Fix: Updated Tangle Kelp description
• Removed: trading for Cosmic Dust

Incoming Gameplay Changes - What’s that About?? 👀

Since Early Access, we’ve been devouring feedback like a swarm of hyper-caffeinated zombies, and while our first minor update is live right now with CU1, our upcoming major update Title Update 0.5 (TU0.5) will make its way to the lawn later this month!

Here’s what’s mutating behind the scenes:

• Plant Power Rewired 🌱⚡
  You told us Tier 3 should crush Tier 2, and Tier 2 should outclass Tier 1. We agree! Repeaters were tired of being shown up by a couple of Peashooters, and through a healthy montage of fertilizer and water, they (and all the other Tier 2 and Tier 3 plants) amped up their power! When the update lands, your existing plants will be migrated into this new power structure.
• Adventure Mode Overhaul 🧠
  We’ve revisited adventure levels, adjusting their quantity, pacing, and difficulty to create a more strategic, less predictable experience. Your existing progress will be migrated into the revamped system when the update rolls out.
• Seed Grind Tamed 🌼
  We heard that the grind for seeds was brutal. So we’ve restructured how seeds are earned, letting you unlock more plants earlier and spend less time stuck in the weeds.

This is the first set of major changes we’re making to the gameplay. We’re also keeping a close eye on the sun economy, tracking how these updates affect the balance once they hit the lawn. In the meantime, dive into CU1 starting today and thanks so much for your feedback, both positive and constructive!

For players outside of our current Early Access regions (Ireland and Philippines), we will be bringing new regions online soon and throughout the coming months, so stay tuned for wider availability as we continue through the development process. If you’re playing in Early Access and you encounter any bugs, please let us know on the forums. Stay tuned to our channels for more on upcoming content updates and gameplay updates.

See you on the lawn!