New Plants vs. Zombies shooter alpha test invites sent out

EA has begun sending out invites to an alpha test of its upcoming Plants vs. Zombies shooter.

While it’s yet to be officially confirmed, the game is thought to be a third entry in the franchise’s Garden Warfare spin-off series.

An invite sent to members of EA’s community playtesting programme and reposted on sites including ResetEra reads: “You are invited to participate in the new PvZ shooter (codename Picnic) playtest on Xbox One or PS4.

“Made by the team that created PvZ Garden Warfare, the Picnic Closed Alpha will give players a first glimpse into the new game – you don’t want to miss out!”

The alpha test will commence on August 1, according to one Reddit user who received an invite.

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare released on consoles and PC in 2014, while the second game in the series launched in 2016.

Reporting its quarterly earnings in May, EA said it planned to release a new Plants vs. Zombies “HD shooter title” during the current business year ending in March 2020.

CEO Andrew Wilson said it will be “fun and irreverent as always”, while CFO Blake Jorgensen said the company expects the game to sell “in the low single digit millions”.

EA announced last week that Plants vs. Zombies 3 is in the early stages of development and currently playable in pre-alpha through the Google Play store.

A limited number of downloads for the latest entry in PopCap’s action-strategy series will be made available in phases, the publisher said.