Bigpoint claims a chunk of Planet Moon

The studio behind Giants: Citizen Kabuto is getting smaller. Browser-based game publisher Bigpoint today announced that it had picked up 37 Planet Moon developers and artists with the studio's blessing.

Planet Moon's history spans a wide array of games, from Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter to Giants: Citizen Kabuto.

"In December 2010, Planet Moon was proceeding in earnest on an important project, and we were delivering our usual high-quality product," Planet Moon CEO Aaron Loeb told GameSpot. "To Planet Moon's surprise, the project went into financial default during the holidays. Planet Moon is owed a substantial amount of money and has claims against several parties. We are preparing legal action. We will issue further statements when we can."

Loeb said he was pleased to be able to find work for his colleagues in short order, while Hamburg, Germany-based Bigpoint was eager to fuel its expansion in the North American market. With the integration of the Planet Moon developers, Bigpoint boasts a San Francisco-based development team of just under 100 people working on a handful of titles, including the forthcoming Ruined Online. The publisher is still looking to bring on talent, and next month it plans to move to a new office in San Francisco that can accommodate up to 250 employees.

Founded in 1997 by the Shiny Entertainment team behind MDK, Planet Moon rose to prominence with its first title, 2000's critically acclaimed Giants: Citizen Kabuto. Other notable titles in the developer's history include LucasArts' comedic action game Armed & Dangerous, the PSP zombie shooter Infected, and THQ's family-friendly Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter. More recently, Planet Moon worked on Disney's Tangled on the Wii and DS and the Life Moments multiplayer component of The Sims 3 for the Wii.