08/20/2008
EA and Gov. Bobby Jindal Announce the Creation of North American Test Center at LSU
Gov. Bobby Jindal and Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today
announced a partnership including Electronic Arts (EA), Louisiana
State University (LSU) and Louisiana 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 Gov. 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, LED Secretary
Stephen Moret, President and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber
(BRAC) Adam Knapp and President of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation
(BRAF) John Davies.
Gov. Jindal said, "This announcement of EA putting the
first-of-its-kind video game testing center in the United States
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 of
predominantly LSU students. Payroll for the operation is expected
to increase to approximately $5.7 million per year within two
years.
"We are proud EA will be part of this initiative that will
assist in the development of the digital media industry in
Louisiana," said Knight. "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. Keel. "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 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 $10 billion per year in U.S. sales and
an expected growth rate of nearly 10 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, BRAF, 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,
Calif., 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 SPORTS™,
EA™, EA SPORTS Freestyle™ and POGO™. 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.
