PopCap Games, the leading developer and publisher of casual games, today announced that it has acquired Retro64, Inc., a leading developer of retro-arcade style action and puzzle games (including Venice, which PopCap published last month). With the acquisition, PopCap has broadened its lineup of hit casual games to include more action-puzzle hybrid titles, and has expanded its internal development capacity in order to bring more games to market. The former Retro64 office, based in Chicago, has become a satellite PopCap development studio and is being managed by Retro64 founder and chief producer Mike Boeh. The studio will continue to create original casual games for the Web, desktop computers, mobile devices, video game consoles and other platforms. Additional details of the agreement were not disclosed.

"I've worked with Mike several times over the past decade, and we recently published Retro64's ‘Venice' game, so all of us at PopCap are familiar with Retro64's design and development philosophy," noted Jason Kapalka, co-founder and chief creative officer of PopCap. "We really respect the quality and focus on fun that Retro64 brings to the table, and are excited to be working with Mike on a full-time basis going forward."

Mr. Boeh's lengthy track record includes stints at Imagination Pilots Entertainment (where he led the programming efforts on titles such as Virtual K'Nex and Where's Waldo Exploring Geography) and eMusic.com and Rollingstone.com, where he served as director of technology. Boeh founded Retro64 in 2001 and for the past six years has supervised a virtual team of artists and sound engineers while handling most design, development and overall production duties himself. Retro64 has developed a series of increasingly popular casual games titles, including Cosmic Bugs, Water Bugs, WarHeads SE, Z-ball, Best Friends, and the recently released Venice.