EA to open game studio in Korea

Electronic Arts is to open a new studio in Seoul, Korea.

According to a report in Korean newspaper Chosun, the new development offices will be opened within 2008 and will work on creating up to three online titles for the publisher.

The firm "aims to secure talented Korean game developers to lay the foundation for a future advance into the Asian market" says Chosun, which adds that senior producer Danny Isaac – who previously worked at Bullfrog and EA Vancouver and produced the likes of Tiger Woods PGA Tour and FIFA – will head the new studio.

EA hopes the new studio will tap into the local talent base, bulding a team that will drive activity behind new NBA Street and Battlefield titles.

"The size of the studio hasn’t been decided yet," a company source told the paper.

"First we plan to recruit dozens of workers to develop the NBA Street and Battlfield online games, but if we have more applicants than expected we may increase the size of the studio and develop another game.”

EA’s move to establishing a presence in the lower-cost and mostly untapped Asian market is no surprise. Last year the firm beame a stakeholder in Korean firm Neowiz, which helped develop FIFA Online – and at the same time has streamlined a few of its offices in the West, including an operations office at Chertsey in the UK and the EA Chicago development team.