Report: EA Focusing On Social Networking With Blueprint Division

Electronic Arts has reportedly formed a new team called EA Blueprint, aimed at assisting small-sized developers with strategic funding and project management. The group will be led by former EA Los Angeles general manager Neil Young and artist and repertoire director Alan Yu. Sources tell consumer site GameTap that EA Blueprint products will include brand extensions of existing EA games in addition to original IP. The EA Blueprint games will reportedly focus on social networking platforms, such as Facebook, which has an audience of some 62 million users. According to GameTap, EA Blueprint's first effort is the recently released Facebook extension of 2007 Wii title Smarty Pants (pictured). The Facebook title was made in conjunction with San Francisco development house Context Optional. An EA spokesperson told GameTap that "most of the stuff we're working on isn't ready to be announced," promising full disclosure at a later date.