Gastronaut is the maker of several titles for the Xbox LIVE Arcade service, best known for the award-winning smash hit title Small Arms, one of the top-selling titles on XBLA, and for their work as developers of PopCap's Feeding Frenzy 2 for XBLA and the upcoming adaptation of Peggle for XBLA.

Under the terms of the deal, PopCap has acquired the company's assets and employees, who will join PopCap's internal development team to begin work on several undisclosed projects. PopCap will also retain exclusive license to Gastronaut's tools and technologies. The Gastronaut founders will retain exclusive rights to their original properties, including Small Arms as well as their upcoming action puzzle title Gel.

"The Gastronaut Studios acquisition signals PopCap's continued commitment to internal development of top quality games for a range of platforms," noted David Roberts, CEO of PopCap. "Given the success of Gastronaut's top-selling Small Arms franchise in particular, there's little doubt that PopCap has significantly increased its development capabilities and creative firepower. The team at Gastronaut has been a great partner of ours, and we're delighted to have them join us here at PopCap."

"This acquisition is the perfect union as Gastronaut, much like PopCap, is dedicated to making accessible and addictively fun games for a wide range of consumers," stated Jacob Van Wingen, Gastronaut co-founder. "We've enjoyed a fantastic working relationship with PopCap on their XBLA titles and we're thrilled to be joining their team to create exciting titles that players of all stripes will love."