EA Confirms New EA Sports Division In Austin

Electronic Arts has officially confirmed earlier rumors that it would open a new EA Sports studio in Austin, publicly announcing the new division Monday morning. Governor Rick Perry and several EA officials unveiled the studio at a press conference at BioWare Austin this morning, according to a report by the Associated Press. The new office will staff 300 employees -- 150 full-time and 150 contracted -- to assist the EA Canada and EA Tiburon studios on sports game development. For now the company will be focused on HD platforms, but will expand to emerging markets, according to EA's Frank Gibeau (as reported by Joystiq). According to EA, these 300 new jobs will join a staff headcount of 450 currently employed in Austin: most of these are at its BioWare studio, though some are in divisions that include IT and finance. According to reports, Governor Perry had been in talks with EA about the move for quite a while, having made an appearance at E3 2008. Perry has been actively trying to increase the game development industry in Texas. As part of the move, EA will seek tax incentives from the Texas Film Commission, though Perry declined to tell reporters what the amount of the incentive may be.