14 DAY TRIAL // Fans saw a mixture of Final Fantasy and Bejeweled when they dove inside Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. And they liked what they saw. The game was developed by Infinite Interactive and published by D3 Publisher and was greatly rewarded by fans and critics. It even won MTV Networks' GameTrailers title of "Best Puzzle/Parlor Game" of 2007 and GameSpy's "Best Xbox Live Arcade Game" of 2007. And owners of the two games that found themselves associated with Challenge of the Warlords took notice of the fans’ metaphor.
Square Enix made an announcement this morning in which they said they'd be partnering with PopCap to create Gyromancer, the embodiment of the game that brought them together, Puzzle Quest: CW. The new title will be a mixture of a role-playing game and puzzle, and will be available through Xbox Live Arcade and Steam. Any further details have not been released, as neither of the two companies involved in the project gave any elaborate comments.
"Gyromancer is a cool puzzle/RPG hybrid that uses Bejeweled Twist's game mechanic at the heart of its battle system," said PopCap co-founder and CEO Jason Kapalka. “We've worked with Square Enix as a distribution partner in Japan for several years, and it was fun to collaborate with them in a more creative way on Gyromancer," he concluded his statement.
Besides the success of Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, the game also gambles on the open market for the genre, with no current direct competitor. The success of the two games that will be the foundation for the game is also an important aspect. The Final Fantasy franchise started in 1987 and has spread like wildfire since. In the 22 years since, the game had sequels to pretty much every existing platform and has sold a total of over 85 million copies. Bejeweled is also a big name in its genre, with 25 million copies sold since 2001 and over 150,000 million downloads.