PopCap acquires XBLA studio

PopCap Games has announced the acquisition of Gastronaut Studios, the independent Xbox Live development house.

Under the terms of the deal, PopCap has acquired all the assets and employees of the developer, best known for the XBLA titles Small Arms and Feeding Frenzy 2, as well as the exclusive licensing rights to Gastronaut's tools and technologies. However, the studio's founders will retain the rights to all original IP.

"The Gastronaut Studios acquisition signals PopCap's continued commitment to internal development of top quality games for a range of platforms," said David Roberts, CEO of PopCap.

"Given the success of Gastronaut's top-selling Small Arms franchise in particular, there's little doubt that PopCap has significantly increased its development capabilities and creative firepower. The team at Gastronaut has been a great partner of ours, and we're delighted to have them join us here at PopCap."

Jacob Van Wingen, Gastronaut co-founder, added: "This acquisition is the perfect union as Gastronaut, much like PopCap, is dedicated to making accessible and addictively fun games for a wide range of consumers."

"We've enjoyed a fantastic working relationship with PopCap on their XBLA titles and we're thrilled to be joining their team to create exciting titles that players of all stripes will love."