Licensed-game publisher Little Orbit (Barbie: Dreamhouse Party) has acquired North Carolina-based Vicious Cycle Software in order to expand its talent pool and gain access to the studio’s proprietary cross-platform Vicious Engine. This represents an effort on the part of Little Orbit to establish a standard development platform for all of its titles, as the Vicious Engine currently supports PC, console and portable game development. In the wake of the acquisition, it will be shared among all of Little Orbit’s developers and expanded to support new handheld and mobile platforms. It also likely cements Vicious Cycle’s role as a licensed-game maker. The studio recently worked on titles like Madagascar 3: The Video Game and Ben 10 Omniverse, and now it’s working on two unannounced projects for Little Orbit — a publisher which defines itself as a purveyor of “AAA licensed-based entertainment products.” You may remember that Vicious Cycle Software was set up in 2000 after the Microprose offices in Chapel Hill, North Carolina were shuttered. The studio has worked on titles like Dead Head Fred, Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon and Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard. It also did a good bit of business >launching the Vicious Engine and licensing it out to developers like Collision Studios and Totally Games.