EA Staff (Retired)
EA Staff (Retired)Pogo History – Looking Back at 21 Years
It all began 21 years ago!
The year was 1999. The “Dotcom” boom had officially begun. Nearly every word in the dictionary was now followed by “.com” and everyone was scrambling to make it big in the new frontier. Only back then, Pogo wasn’t yet Pogo. It was the Total Entertainment Network, or TEN.
The TEN brand did not last long. By September 1999, TEN transformed into the site you know and love — Pogo.com! Back in those days, we didn’t have a huge variety of games, but a few were proving to be popular. Those few hits kept us going, but we needed help.
On March 1, 2001, Pogo was acquired by Electronic Arts. As part of EA, one of the biggest game companies in the world, we had the resources to make Pogo even greater.
Things really took off with the launch of Club Pogo on July 23, 2003. Club Pogo started with a humble roster of exclusive games — Pop Fu, Jungle Gin, Dice Derby, Squelchies and the divisive Greenback Bayou. That roster would soon grow to include some timeless hits, like Tri-Peaks Solitaire.
Badges and Challenges proved to be one of the most popular features to arrive with Club Pogo. Weekly Challenges (also known as Wednesday Challenges) were especially successful with players. For many, visiting Club Pogo every Wednesday to play the newest Challenges became a tried and true tradition.
Towards the end of 2005, we launched Premium Badge Albums. In 2006, the first Mix-n-Match Badges arrived. A new version of the Pogo homepage launched, along with enhanced profiles, and a new guestbook feature.
The next decade proved to be very productive. The game selection broadened dramatically, Minis arrived with an ever-expanding wardrobe, more and more challenges were added to games, and the community grew and grew. We even started attending conferences like the AARP Convention, the Red Hat Society and a few others. These events allowed us to meet and greet Pogo players from all over, which we enjoyed immensely.
In 2011, EA purchased PopCap Games (co-founded by an early Pogo employee!). This brought some new titles into the fold, including Bejeweled 3, Bejeweled Twist and Plants vs. Zombies.
In recent years, we’ve been working hard on updating our games library in response to technology changes across the Internet. With Flash and Java becoming obsolete, we embraced HTML5. This resulted in one of the busiest periods in Pogo history as we created new games and remastered dozens of classics like Word Whomp over the span of a few years — all while laying the foundation for a brand-new site.
Speaking of Word Whomp, see how far Nestor and friends have come with this delightful trailer for the remastered version — Word Whomp HD! Watch it now on YouTube.
Starting in September of 2019 we moved into high gear with the launch of Pogo Early Access. Pogo Early Access was all about bringing Pogo into the modern era, with a new streamlined logo and look, alongside the ability to play all the same games and Challenges across desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile. This brand-new Pogo experience also coincided with new titles like Pogo Addiction Solitaire HD, From France with Love, Anagrams, Paranormal Destinations and Bookworm HD.
As Pogo Early Access took off, we introduced more and more exclusive games, including Jigsaw Treasure Hunter HD, Payday FreeCell HD, Winter Wonderland, Crazy Cakes 2, Jungle Gin HD, Snowbird Solitaire, Pogo Slots, Spades HD, Canasta HD, and Thousand Island Solitaire HD. We also added a few games from our good friends at PopCap, including Solitaire Blitz, Peggle Blast HD and Bejeweled Stars.
Along the way, we explored new ways to take on Challenges and earn Badges, including Badge Marathons and new events like Challenge Quest, Treasure Chase and Sweets Box.
After a year, Pogo Early Access simply became Pogo. The classic Pogo experience became “Pogo Classic,” and remains home to older features and Flash-based games.
The new Pogo has expanded throughout 2019 and 2020, with popular features like Chat and new Pogi Constellations. With Pogis, we gave players more ways to earn rewards like power-ups, Badges and even Pogo Gems. Pogis also helped breathe new life into Daily, Weekly and Premium Challenges. All those victories now add up!
One thing’s for certain: we’re just getting started! We have lots more games, events, features and Badges on the way as we continue to improve the new Pogo. We’re also more invested in the community than ever, reading every bit of feedback we can. Your passion and enthusiasm has been instrumental in shaping this journey.
Even after 21 years, we still have a lot of room to grow. We look forward to bringing you more updated classics, brand-new titles and sharing more ways to play, connect, and win together. As always, please continue to share your feedback and thoughts in the Pogo Insider blog comments and on the forums.
Thanks for all your years of support and making Pogo your home for games!
-Your Friends at Pogo
Source: blog.pogo.com
