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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.]
Puzzle Quest 2 canceled for PSP
From PSN-only to the void, Puzzle Quest 2 for PSP has met with the ultimate skull chain combo. Steve Fawkner, CEO and president of Infinite Interactive, confirms on his Facebook account that the PSP version has been canceled. "After Firemint's acquisition of Infinite, and EA's acquisition of Firemint, so many people have moved around, that I find myself without enough manpower to finish it," Fawkner writes. "I would also like to point out that it was nothing to do with EA and/or Firemint that it has been cancelled - they have been excellent in giving me enough time and freedom to get it done... this is just a very unfortunate logistical problem where key people are no longer available to work on it." Fawkner claims there was "ONE sound bug remaining to be fixed, and it would have been good to go." He won't give up hope entirely, but admits that finishing the project is "unlikely to happen." So, um, anyone with working knowledge of PSP development want to help a brother out?
EA buys Firemint, makers of Flight Control and Real Racing
Here's yet another big iOS developer picked up by a traditional gaming giant: EA has acquired Firemint, the maker of iOS hits Flight Control and the Real Racing series. This is a pretty big purchase, but not a big surprise; Firemint has done work for EA in the past, including a few ports of popular EA titles, and as it has just merged with Infinite Interactive and has a big new title on the way called Agent Squeek, Firemint seemed primed for a connection with a larger company. The last time I talked with Firemint's Rob Murry and Steve Fawkner back at GDC this year, they obviously didn't mention any plans to join up with EA, but they did hint to me that Firemint's future included more traditional console titles -- either versions of their current games for systems like Xbox and PlayStation, or new games entirely. Those plans may be put on hold, however -- EA's press release connects the Firemint acquisition with another purchase of a company called Mobile Post Production, which specializes in porting games across smartphone devices, and says it will use MPP's technical abilities and Firemint's creative skills to kick out high quality mobile games.
Firemint acquires Puzzle Quest dev Infinite Interactive
You'd think after selling a billion iPhone games, the Firemint crew, makers of those Flight Control and Real Racing games on your phone, would go buy a boat or something. But, oh no, they had to be "smart" with their money, acquiring Puzzle Quest developer Infinite Interactive to form an even stronger, more independent operation, which "works exclusively on self-published original games." Who do these guys think they are ... PopCap? It would seem that Firemint starter Rob Murray and Infinite Interactive founder Steve Fawkner, both Aussies, have been casually strategizing for years now. "Steve and I have been talking about working together for a long time, and I remember him showing me an early version of Puzzle Quest," Murray recalled. "This inspired me to make a game during my own holidays two years later, which was Flight Control -- and now, another two years later, we've finally found a way to work together!" (The financial terms of the deal haven't been disclosed.) Infinite Interactive will merge into Firemint's "recently expanded" (how convenient!) offices in Melbourne and continue work on some kind of infectious game that could endanger world health at a bargain price. And then, they'll all probably buy a fleet of boats and retire into Port Phillip Bay. [Image credit: Firemint]
Fawkner talks up Neopets
Steve Fawkner, the CEO of Infinite Interactive, chats a bit about the recently announced Neopets and some of its features in the video above. Neopets takes the game Othello (also known as Reversi in some circles) and spruces it up a bit with magical spells and things of that nature, while also adding an adventure storyline. This may not excite some of you, but we still have fond memories of 7up's Spot: The Video Game, which showed us that Othello can be awesome in the right circumstances.Fawkner also claims that if you play just one game, you'll be hooked. Since Infinite Interactive gave us Puzzle Quest, a title that people had big doubts about until they realized it was video game crack (the DS version, at least), we're inclined to see if Neopets can live up to Fawkner's promise -- even if we still think the tie-in with the Neopets franchise is just weird. Gallery: Neopets Puzzle Adventure
Puzzle Quest creators talk about upcoming Galactrix
Who would've thought blending RPG elements into a puzzle game would become so successful? Puzzle Quest's incredible fan following has earned its spiritual successor, Galactrix, a great deal of attention. In an interview with IGN, Lead Designer Steve Fawkner reveals that the team is trying their best to make this game feel unique: "the last thing we want to hear from gamers is "oh that's just a Puzzle Quest clone" (which we admit to doing).When questioned on its gameplay mechanics, Fawkner stated the game was not based on Bejeweled, but another popular puzzle game: "I would say that it would better be described as Collapse in space." A crucial difference between the two titles is that Galactrix features real-time puzzle battling.As revealed in the interview, there are plans to introduce downloadable content and 6 player multiplayer. It will be interesting to see how this game develops over time.
Puzzle Quest sequel in the works
If Final Fantasy can reach the double digits, why can't an RPG puzzler also have sequels? In a recent interview with the creators of Puzzle Quest, IGN learned that not only were the creators surprised by how quickly the title has sold, but that they are also working on a sequel. Infinite Interactive's CEO Steve Fawkner said: "We have enjoyed creating (and playing) Puzzle Quest so much that I think we wanted to start on a sequel the day the game was released. The right thing to do, though, is to spend some time gathering ideas, discussing new features, and listening to our customers before we dive right in and start work on a sequel. But I can almost guarantee that, barring the most unfortunate Act of God, you haven't seen the last Puzzle/RPG hybrid to come out of Infinite Interactive." If that still doesn't convince you that a sequel is in the works, Puzzle Quest's publisher D3 also chimed in about a sequel possibility: "Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is considered one of D3's key franchises. Absolutely do not count out the possibility of an amazing sequel to this remarkable game." So what changes would you like to see in this inevitable sequel?
