GameFly, EA Vets Launch Casual Games Dev In Shanghai

GameFly co-founder Jung Suh and former Electronic Arts technical art director Scott Yu launched Red Rocket Games, a new development studio focused on creating casual titles for PC, Internet, handhelds, and iPhone. Headquartered in Shanghai with offices in Bellevue, WA, the company seeks to merge online gaming trends from Asia, such as microtransactions and avatar systems, with U.S. game design methodologies. Its first casual title is scheduled for release in early 2009 through its own portal and through other casual game distributors and publishers. Before forming Red Rocket Games in late 2005, Suh, who serves as CEO for the company, was GameFly's vice president of content. Yu, with over 10 years of industry experience working at companies such as Electronic Arts and Sega, will take on the role of executive producer. The studio's multicultural development team includes members from China, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia, France and the U.S. Red Rocket Games believes that being based in China brings a special advantage, as it can outsource non-core elements to local companies and manage them closely. "We have an international group of mad scientists here at our Shanghai office, and everyone is tinkering around with the concepts of fun as we develop our first game," says Suh. "It’s a great benefit to be here in China and be able to take advantage of the talent and excitement around online gaming, while at the same time having a management team with years of U.S. game development methodology experience garnered from top video game brand companies."