EA Accelerates Into Asia

"What we learned was how to create and modify a product and innovate in game play that would appeal to a different audience," says Mahoney. "And we found that partnerships help accelerate the process of getting these games into the hands of the customers in a different region."

EA is now set to become the second-largest shareholder in Neowiz after its CEO and founder, Sung Kyun Na.

Neowiz and EA intend to co-develop four more online games for Asia, with Neowiz retaining the rights to publish two of the four online games in Korea and Japan.

EA hopes to continue to make similar key equity investments in Asian gaming companies rather than acquisitions, says Mahoney.

"Asia is a very different place," he says. "We felt that an equity investment gives us the kind of deep partnership we want to have to create games as well as knowledge of the local market."

EA is also looking to build new partnerships with Asian game companies for other games in its portfolio. The company plans to bring its multiplayer online role playing game, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, to Korea, China, Taiwan and Japan and is still looking for an Asian distribution partner.

"The next big market is Asia," says Pachter. "EA is going to lead the way in, and the other publishers will try to follow."

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