[Korea.net News, Science / Tech, January 10 2008] World's top game maker to open Seoul branch

Electronic Arts, or EA, the world’s biggest game developer and publisher, will build a video game development studio in Seoul for sales in Asian markets.

The American company said Thursday (Jan. 10) that it will build the studio this year and is looking for a place in southern Seoul.

Danny Isaac, who is credited for developing many of the company’s popular games such as the FIFA soccer series and Tiger Woods PGA Tour, will run the studio in Korea.

EA will hire many Korean developers to work with American counterparts to jointly develop games for Asian markets.

The studio will develop famous EA series such as NBA Street and Battlefield, in addition to other popular titles like John Madden Football, NFL Street, NASCAR and NFL Head Coach.

EA began showing interest in the Korean market last year, when it became a major shareholder of the Korean game developer Neowiz. The Korean firm has worked with EA since early 2006.

Last year, Neowiz helped EA develop the online portion of the extremely popular FIFA franchise.