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More Puzzle Quest coming from reborn indie Infinite Interactive
Yesterday's announcement regarding EA's Firemint and IronMonkeys merger actually had a sideplot to it, in that Infinite Interactive, which was "acquired" by Firemint last year, quietly split off this past January to be independent again."There was never an actual acquisition of Infinite, it was more of a merger. It was all amicable stuff – as much as it would be fun to have a bit of a scandal. Unfortunately there isn't one," Infinite Interactive's founder and creative lead Steve Fawkner told us. "I think everybody agreed that Infinite does its best work when it's independent, and so we headed back out into the wilderness to work on our own stuff again."Fawkner explained he couldn't get into the "nitty-gritty" details about intellectual property ownership and that things are "a little more complicated" than before, but that Infinite do still retain the Puzzle Quest and Warlords IP rights."While I don't have a specific announcement that I can make at the moment, if you shook a Magic 8-Ball and asked it 'Will Infinite's next game be a Puzzle Quest title?', then it would quite probably say 'All signs point to yes!'," Fawkner explained."In the short term, we will continue to build and innovate in the genres and settings that we know and love. That means games that combine fantasy, puzzles, strategy and tactics. It's doubtful we'll ever move too far from those genres, because they are our favorites, and you always do your best work when you're building games that you're passionate about."[Thanks Aaron S.]
IronMonkey and Firemint merging into Firemonkeys, jungles burn across the world
Electronic Arts is smooshing its two Aussie mobile developers together to form one studio known as Firemonkeys. IronMonkey (Mass Effect Infiltrator, Dead Space) and Firemint (Flight Control, SPY mouse) combined now form "Australia's largest game development studio." Awkward.Firemonkey will continue working on separate projects, along with "collaborating on new ones out of the EA Melbourne office."It should also be noted that shortly before it was acquired by EA, Firemint purchased Puzzle Quest developer Infinite Interactive. Now, the only thing more dangerous than Firemonkeys would be Infinite Firemonkeys.Update: Turns out Infinite Interactive quietly split away this past January.
EA joins Iron Monkey and Firemint mobile studios to create Firemonkeys
EA has announced that it's consolidating its two biggest mobile studios. Firemint is the developer behind Flight Control and Spy Mouse (and was acquired by EA last year), and Iron Monkey is the developer behind EA's iOS hits like Mass Effect Infiltrator and Dead Space. Those two Melbourne, Australia-based studios are now joining up to become FireMonkeys, serving as a big internal mobile studio for EA. Between the two studios, Firemonkeys now claims over 85 million downloads on the App Store, as well as 15 number one hits between them. EA says the teams will now be collaborating on current projects, as well as creating some new ones out of the new combined studio as well. As a Firemint fan, this has me a little more worried about that company's popular properties. Rob Murray, Firemint's CEO, and a few original team members still remain working on the company's products. But Flight Control Rocket was a very different game than the high quality Flight Control, released before EA's takeover, and EA doesn't say what has happened to Infinite Interactive's properties, including the popular Puzzle Quest series. An interview with MCV says the restructuring was "more of a formality" than anything else, and that the number of employees will generally be split and may even grown in the next few months. But still, I haven't seen the same quality or polish come out of Firemint since it was independent, and it seems unlikely that combining it together with Iron Monkey will do much to change that. Show full PR text EA is Proud to Announce the Merger of Two Renowned Mobile Studios IronMonkey and Firemint become Firemonkeys EA is bringing together two of the world's leading mobile development studios - IronMonkey and Firemint - to form Firemonkeys. These two studios have entertained over 50 million players in 2012 alone with stellar titles including Flight Control, SPY mouse and Real Racing from Firemint, and Mass Effect Infiltrator, Dead Space and The Sims FreePlay from IronMonkey. Based in Melbourne, Australia, both studios have been developing mobile games for over a decade and combining the two teams makes Firemonkeys Australia's largest game development studio. Both teams look forward to the unification with Rob Murray, Executive Producer of Firemint commenting, "IronMonkey and Firemint have solid reputations for producing well-known games and we are excited to have the opportunity to share best practices, technology and resources." By aligning the strategy of IronMonkey and Firemint, EA is able to create an even more focused team of passionate individuals who are dedicated to developing high-quality mobile game experiences. This merge in the mobile space is resulting in positive overall growth for the Firemonkeys team, as the studio is now hiring for several positions. Fans should expect to see progressive development efforts with upcoming launch and project announcements in 2012. "Both of these studios have produced award-winning games and we believe combining the incredible talent pool in Melbourne, as well as leveraging the EA brand, sets us up for further success in the mobile arena," adds Tony Lay, GM of IronMonkey. Firemonkeys will continue to work on separate products in addition to collaborating on new ones out of the EA Melbourne office. With the added synergy this partnership creates, fans can expect unique features and new experiences in the brands they have come to know and love.
Rumor: EA buys developer IronMonkey Studios
Electronic Arts has allegedly purchased Australia-based IronMonkey Studios, best known for developing several successful iPhone titles for the mega-publisher. If true, the purchase continues EA's path of "restructuring" and a business strategy that targets casual, online and mobile markets. Aussie website Tsumea broke the acquisition story citing "very reliable sources" and noting that "details are very slim at the moment." Our own attempts to get EA to acknowledge the purchase are being answered by the sounds of silence. We'll be sure to update as soon as EA decides to say anything -- although, if it's in Simlish, we'll likely need a translator. [Via Develop]
