Fast-growing Bigpoint eyes South America

Still only eight years into its business, social game studio Bigpoint has expanded operations into its third continent.

The group, headed up by CEO Heiko Hubertz, will in January open a new operations base in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

Ten employees are sought for the new base, though at this stage no developers are wanted, with the Sao Paolo office being built for business development, marketing and Latin-America PR.

Bigpoint, which in 2008 sold half its business for $70 million, has operations running in Hamburg, Berlin, Malta, and San Francisco.

“The Latin-American Internet market is one of the fastest-growing markets in the world,” said Hubertz.

“This new location will become a new strategic focus point for our international expansion.”

The company’s ongoing success comes from a range of social games, both in browser and on Facebook.

The firm’s closest rival, Zynga, is also expanding fast. The firm was recently valued above $5 billion.