PopCap Games announces international expansion

Casual games developer and publisher PopCap Games has announced its expansion into European and Asian markets with the establishment of a new operational facility and development studio based in Dublin.

Designed to facilitate better communication and shorten deal-making timetables with existing and potential oversees partners, the multi-million dollar investment cements PopCap's ambitions of becoming the global leader in the casual games market.

PopCap Games International will serve as the as the company's local hub for all European and Asian business activities, including new title development and localisation of back catalogue and all future titles. With an initial staff base of just twelve employees, the company expects to double in size during 2006, and is projecting the creation of 50 new jobs in software engineering, quality assurance, art and design, production, IT support, and sales and marketing over the next five years.

PopCap Games CEO David Roberts commented: "We're pleased and excited to open our international headquarters in Dublin, which is actively growing its digital media presence through initiatives such as the Digital Hub and has historically been the preferred European centre of localization for the software industry."

"If we want to provide the same premium game experience around the world that our US customers have grown to expect, it's critical that we have PopCap staff as close to the customer as possible. Global expansion is our top priority in 2006, and this is a big first step toward that goal," Roberts added.

One of the more significant roles for the new international facility will be the localisation of existing PopCap games. The company will release Bejweled 2, Chuzzle, Insaniquarium and Zuma in the first half of the year, primarily targeting French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and Swedish languages. It is PopCap's plan to produce additional localisations in Chinese, Korean and Japanese throughout the coming year.

PopCap Games International will be led by Will Golby, who brings a wealth of European industry experience to the role, most recently serving as head of TKO Software in Dublin.

"Becoming part of the biggest hit-maker in the casual games space is truly an ideal situation for us — PopCap is growing apace with the whole casual games sector, and we look forward to spearheading that expansion on this side of the Atlantic," Golby stated.