EA scouts Atlanta studio location - report
Georgia's 30 per cent tax credits could result in 300-person facility
Electronic Arts is scouting for various new studio locations in Atlanta, Georgia, with a view to establishing a 300-person facility in the city.
That's according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, which cites spokesperson Jeff Brown as confirming the option, along with Louisiana and Florida, in a bid to cut costs by relocating from more expensive areas such as California.
One of the reasons the state of Georgia is attractive is because it recently increased its tax incentives to a 30 per cent rate, and Eve Online developer CCP Games already has a significant presence there.
"The tax credit is definitely one of the things that attracted us to Georgia," said Brown. "If we can find an abundance of talent and a pipeline through a local university that gives us access to talent in both art and engineering, that’s where we start - The rest of it is really a cost equation."
EA has endured a torrid past 15 months and cut a significant number of posts in that time, with Pandemic the latest studio to suffer.