Sony Online Entertainment and Octopi merge

Arizona-based developer Octopi has been acquired by Sony Online Entertainment (SOE), now rebranded as SOE Tucson.

Octopi are the people behind PoxNora, an award-winning online collectible card game which has been around for a few years, now in its eighth expansion. They're known for their mobile and browser games as well.

The company was previously acquired by FUN Technologies in 2006 (in turn majority owned by Liberty Media Corporation).

PoxNora will continue to be developed, and the studio will also work on 'trading cards and strategy game projects'.

“Our strategy and trading card games have been successful beyond our wildest dreams,” said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment. “Expanding with a great product like PoxNora and the outstanding development team from Octopi gives us a chance to extend our strategy game offerings and enhance the ones we already field.”

Dan Kopycienski, president of Octopi, added: "We could not be more excited about becoming part of the Sony Online Entertainment family. We have always been passionate about developing unique and creative games for our customers, and now with the support of SOE, we will have the opportunity to take our products to that next level."

A note up on the PoxNora website currently states: "As of January 16, 2009 the PoxNora game and this website are owned by and operated for Sony Online Entertainment LLC."