Puzzle Quest, Gems Of War Dev Acquired By 505 Games

505 Games has announced the acquisition of Infinity Plus Two, the studio that created the Puzzle Quest series as well as the free-to-play Gems of War. 505 touted this as a strategic move to strengthen its position in the F2P market.

Infinity Plus Two is based in Melbourne, Australia, and has created more than 30 games, though it's most known for Puzzle Quest. Founder Steve Fawkner will remain in a leadership role at the studio as part of 505 Games management. The studio had previously collaborated with 505 on Gems of War, a strategy-RPG with match-3 mechanics.

"IP2 is a proven studio with phenomenal success over the years. Their creative vision and extensive experience will be a great addition to 505 Games," said 505 Games free-to-play head Clive Robert, in the announcement. "The F2P market has seen a tremendous amount of growth and rise in popularity over the years and has always been a key facet of the company's growth strategy. As one of the leading third-party publishers of F2P games across multiple platforms, this latest acquisition solidifies our investment in internal development and builds on our library of owned IP."

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords was originally released in 2007, published by D3 Publisher. It recently had a remastered version released on Nintendo Switch. Gems of War launched in 2014 and features similar match-3 mechanics with a team-building strategy layer.