DevPlug.net

Electronic Arts Inc. is turning to online games to boost its limited presence in Asia, the Asia president of the U.S. video game maker said Tuesday.

EA’s main business in the West comes from packaged games software for consoles and personal computers, but online games are more popular in Asia, EA President for Asia Jon Niermann told The Associated Press in an interview.

“It’s night and day,” Niermann.

Niermann was attending the launch of “Need for Speed Undercover,” which features a character played by actress Maggie Q.

The executive says EA hopes to increase its market share in Asia by launching more online games, with 12 editions of different games expected to roll out this year.

The company has already launched online versions of “FIFA,”"NBA Street,”"Warhammer Online” in the region, with “Battlefield Heroes” to follow. The online version of “Need for Speed,” which was developed in Singapore, will launch next year.

The executive said Asia revenues account for only about 6 percent of EA’s total revenue. The Redwood City, California-based company reported US$3.67 billion in revenue for its 2008 fiscal year.

“It’s nowhere where it needs to be. We need to get that growth significantly higher,” Niermann said.

In the coveted China market, EA’s market share is in the single digits, but the company hopes to change by that by launching online versions of “FIFA” and “NBA Street” with local partners, he said.

EA is launching “FIFA” with The9 Ltd., which operates “World of Warcraft” in China, and “NBA Street” with game operators Tencent Inc. and T2CN.

The company is also developing games in Asia for the Asian market, Niermann said.

EA has offices in 16 Asian cities, with game developing sites in Singapore, Hyderabad, India, Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo.

More: continued here

Related News

Olympics

Sponsors have a new name for the Vancouver Olympics: the Social Games.More consumer eyeballs will be on computer and mobile phone screens during the Winter Olympics than on TV screens. Coca-Cola says that while 100 million saw its Super Bowl ads air once, online interactions with the ads now number more than 500 million. The Olympics will be no different.Sponsors have spent months creating strategies aimed at nudging folks to mingle with their brands online and share virtual goodies with friends."Virtual goods and currency are becoming enormous," says Rebecca Lieb, vice president at Econsultancy. But, she cautions, "It needs to be relative to the Olympic Games and your brand."Visa is getting a bigger boost in pre-Olympic buzz online than any sponsor, reports LBi, an interactive ad agency. "Social-media buzz is important because it makes ad dollars work harder," says Joe Schab, CEO at LBi.Social-media plans for four sponsors:*Visa. About 40 percent of its Olympic marketing funds will go to digital, four times the past share, marketing chief Antonio Lucio says. It created a YouTube channel where its six Olympic spots can be seen before they air on TV. Folks can pick their favorite and enter to have their name appear in the ad.*Coke. The brand created a virtual snowball fight for consumers to share via social media. It also has an iPhone app with NBC that has sounds of cheering, air horns and a Coke being poured. Coke-sponsored athletes will tweet on Twitter about their experiences."Every piece of our Olympic marketing has a social and mobile component," says Katie Bayne, marketing chief for Coca-Cola North America.*McDonald's. The chain has created a virtual scavenger hunt: How Do You McNugget? The first to figure out such things as how Olympic athletes eat McNuggets can win a trip for two to the 2012...

Same

Viaden Media – an acknowledged leader in online gaming software development and delivery has reached the leading edge level of its online casino software. The standard casino package is now enhanced with 10 newest feature rich slot machines software. The breakthrough functionality of new slot games has become a cogent company’s advantage over the competitors. [PR.com]

Video

U.S. video game retail sales dropped 13 percent in January, another down month for the industry after a difficult 2009.In all, Americans spent nearly $1.2 billion on video game systems, software and accessories during the month, market researcher NPD Group said Thursday.Software sales fell 12 percent from the same month a year earlier, to $597.9 million.January does not tend to be a big month for video games, which sell heavily during the holidays, though it is when many people trade in the gift cards they got for Christmas.The month's best-selling title was Nintendo's "New Super Mario Bros.," followed by "Mass Effect 2" from Electronic Arts Inc., which launched Jan. 26. Other games such as Activision Blizzard Inc.'s "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" and Nintendo's "Wii Fit Plus" also did well.January hardware sales tumbled 21 percent from a year earlier to $353.7 million. In December, hardware sales hit nearly $2.2 billion and were up from a year earlier.NPD said Thursday the Wii kept its spot as the month's best selling console with 465,800 units sold, followed by the handheld DS with 422,200.Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 was in third place with 332,800 units, tailed by Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 with 276,900.Sales of accessories climbed 2 percent to $217 million.Peter Dille, senior vice president at Sony, said there has been a lot of pent-up demand for the PlayStation 3 and he expects supplies to be tight "for another month or two."Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime also pointed to supply constraints for the Wii, saying the company's "biggest challenge on the Wii side continues to be meeting demand."Xbox spokesman David Dennis said the company was having no supply-demand issues.After January's decline, analysts expect big game launches to give a boost to software sales for the remainder of the quarter. Many of these...

Mithras Suggests Microsoft Buys Yahoo For $22 a Share

Mithras Capital, an investment fund that, poor thing, owns 1.9 million shares of Yahoo, which amounts to a fractional percentage in the company, has suggested that Microsoft buy the joint for $22 a share, these days something like a 60% premium to its bombed-out stock price, then sell off Yahoo’s Asian and non-search interests, cut costs by $3 billion and get $2.8 billion in tax benefits. read more

CADParts & Consulting LLC Provides Greater Benefits to Customers by Using Arena to Streamline Data and Development … (Marketwire via Yahoo! Finance)

FOSTER CITY, CA--(Marketwire - 08/26/09) - Arena Solutions , a provider of on-demand software that helps small and mid-size manufacturers manage their complex and constantly changing product record, today announced that CADParts & Consulting LLC is using Arena to streamline its product development process, boost productivity and improve collaboration with customers. With locations around the U.S ...