Electronic Arts is aiming to be the top gaming publisher of online, mobile and arcade games in Asia. The Asian gaming market is growing by leaps and bounds and EA,s attempt to establish a foothold there is a strategic move to garner the booming game industry in the Far East. The estimated annual take for video games in Asia is an estimated 14 billion dollars. However, games for the Asian market will have to be specifically developed for that part of the world, as game preferences differ substantially from western tastes.
Plans are already in development by EA Asia to establish partnerships with local gaming companies as well as EA,s established studios in Singapore, Tokyo and Shanghai. Presently, EA Asia is working on the online version of their successful FIFA soccer game.
Jon Niermann told GameIndustry that, "We have online game development happening, we have mobile distribution and development happening, and then we have local content development happening. We’ve put in those three pillars to really get us to where we need to be; to lay the foundation for future growth in Asia."
EA is taking a proactive approach in their efforts to open up the Asian game market. Previously this year, western game publishers were grousing about the inability of their game titles in successfully penetrating the Japanese retail game business. In contrast, EA,s approach is to work with the locals in game development and to produce games that will appeal to a different cultural mindset. If EA,s business model proves to be successful, other game companies may follow suit with EA’s fomula.
