Governor Bobby Jindal and Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced a partnership including Electronic Arts (EA), Louisiana State University (LSU) and the Louisiana Department of Economic Development (LED) that will lead to the creation of a new global quality assurance (QA) center in Baton Rouge. The facility will be the first of its kind in the United States and will serve primarily as a test center for EA SPORTS’ software titles.
Joining Governor Jindal in making the announcement were EA’s Senior Vice President for Central Development Services Sharon Knight, LSU Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development Dr. Brooks Keel, Baton Rouge Mayor Melvin L. “Kip” Holden, Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Economic Development (LED) Stephen Moret, President and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber (BRAC) Adam Knapp and President of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation John Davies.
Governor Jindal said, “This announcement of EA putting the first-of-its-kind video game testing center in the U.S. right here in Baton Rouge is a terrific win for the city and the future of our state. We know our economic development initiatives have to be aggressive, but they must also be innovative, and EA has both of these important attributes. This testing center will create 20 full time jobs, and more than 200 part-time jobs for LSU students who will get paid to play video games. I know this will be a dream job for some kids, but it is also a key part of strengthening our state’s economic development so we become the best place in the world to do business and all of our children can stay right here at home to pursue their dreams.” Jindal added, “This job win is a critical step in creating a digital media economy that will generate even more high-paying high tech jobs and help us compete for even more jobs within EA in the future.”
Gov. Jindal personally cultivated a relationship with EA, and his state budget for fiscal year 2009 includes funding for two new positions focused specifically on growing the digital media industry in Louisiana.
The QA center, created through the EA/LSU partnership, will be a testing facility for new software designed by EA’s development studios. The center will ramp up to approximately 20 full time employees as well as over 200 part time testers made up predominately of LSU students. Payroll for the operation is expected to increase to approximately $5.7 million per year within two years.
“We are proud that EA will be part of this initiative that will assist in the development of the digital media industry in Louisiana,” said Sharon Knight, Senior Vice President of Central Development Services at EA. “We feel EA SPORTS is a great fit with LSU as there is a deep-rooted heritage in sports at the university. This partnership will open future opportunities for the state of Louisiana, LSU and EA.”
Individuals involved with forming the partnership cited multiple reasons why the Baton Rouge area was selected for the project. The list included an abundance of potential technology-minded employees, a deeply-rooted sports culture highly valuable for evaluating sports-themed software, digital media tax credits and a digital media curriculum being vigorously cultivated at LSU through a new program called AVATAR (Arts, Visualization Advanced Technologies and Research).
AVATAR will establish collaboration among various disciplines to produce research and projects related to digital media. As part of this joint venture, EA will assist in the development of the digital media industry in Louisiana, and will help to encourage technology research and development in the field, by assisting in the development of curricula, workforce programs and digital media cultivation efforts.
“LSU is committed to developing a world-class, comprehensive program aimed at advancing the education, research and workforce needs of the digital media industry,” said Dr. Brooks Keel, LSU’s Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development. “Our AVATAR Initiative will recruit leaders from around the world to LSU to perform cutting edge research in high-performance computing, video game development, interactive systems, visual effects and digital arts, and our developing Digital Media Curriculum will offer education and training for students interested in these areas. We are extremely excited about collaborating with EA, which will not only provide outstanding job opportunities for our digital media students, but will greatly enhance our ability to attract global leaders in digital media including scientists, artists, and engineers to LSU. Together, EA and LSU will ensure that Baton Rouge, and indeed the entire state of Louisiana, will become a global leader in the field of digital media and entertainment development.”
“With this announcement today, Baton Rouge has taken a giant leap forward in becoming a center for the digital media industry,” said Mayor-President Melvin L. “Kip” Holden. “EA brings exactly the kind of jobs we have been working to land – careers for the future that focus on technology, digital arts and video game development. We welcome this exciting company to Baton Rouge.”
Moret added, “With over $9.5 billion per year1 in U.S. sales and an expected growth rate of nearly ten percent per year for the foreseeable future, the video-game development industry is likely to be one of the most exciting growth sectors for many years to come. This new partnership with EA represents a major boost in our effort to become one of the leading states in the country in this exciting growth industry. We plan to pursue other EA opportunities in the development arena, as well as use this partnership in our efforts to recruit other leading video-game development companies to Louisiana.”
Initial contact with EA was made through the Baton Rouge Area Digital Industries Consortium (BRADIC), a group established last year to cultivate the development of a digital media industry in the Capital Region. Its founding members include BRAC, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, the City of Baton Rouge / Parish of East Baton Rouge and LSU. BRADIC and LED collaborated to recruit EA to Louisiana.
"This is a momentous day for the Baton Rouge area and our emerging digital media sector. The decision by Electronic Arts to locate their North American quality assurance facility here is a major step in the realization of our goal of becoming the Creative Capital of the South," said Knapp. "We have built a broad community consortium focused on developing this industry, and all of our partners are committed to making Electronic Arts’ operations, as well as all of our current Baton Rouge-based digital media companies, a long-term success."
The QA facility will initially be located at LSU’s South Campus as part of the Louisiana Business and Technology Center. EA will make use of Louisiana’s Digital Media Tax Credit Program, as well as assistance from LED and EBR City-Parish for facility improvements.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA SPORTS FreestyleTM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2008, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.67 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.
EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Freestyle and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.
1 Data according to figures from The NPD Group
Contacts:
Mariam Sughayer, 650-628-7245
msughayer@ea.com
or
Lori
Melancon, 504-444-2046
melanconl@peteramayer.com
