Flight Control Dev Firemint Buys Puzzle Quest Studio

Flight Control developer Firemint said Tuesday it acquired fellow Melbourne, Australia studio Infinite Interactive, developer of the Puzzle Quest RPG/puzzle franchise. Firemint said the acquisition will bolster the studio's design and development initiatives, as well as give Infinite Interactive more opportunities for self-publishing. The studios did not release financial terms of the acquisition. Steve Fawkner founded Infinite Interactive in 1989, and is the designer behind the Warlords series and more recently, the well-received Puzzle Quest franchise. He will take on a product management role at Firemint, which now employs 60 workers, overlooking a game currently in development by his team. Both Infinite Interactive will be consolidated into one location at Firemint's offices, and all games will be released under the Firemint name. Firemint is perhaps best known for the iOS hit Flight Control, which has players direct aircraft to specified runways amid increasing air traffic. The game recently debuted on PC and Mac. The studio also created Real Racing for iOS. Rob Murray, who founded Firemint in 1999, said in a statement, "...Our two studios evolved very similar philosophies of developing addictive, fun and polished original games. By bringing our studios’ talents together, we will be able to create even more awesome games -- and more of them." Fawkner said the new position at Firemint will allow him to "focus on game design." Murray said he and Fawkner had discussed working together even prior to the releases of Puzzle Quest and Flight Control.