Epic Games signs development deal with Electronic Arts

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Expanding its push into high-quality game talent, Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS) has signed up two new game development firms to produce future titles.

The partners include Epic Games, the Cary, N.C.-based creator of Microsoft’s bestseller, “Gears of War.” Epic Games is going to make a new game that will be published by Electronic Arts, said Mike Capps, president of Epic Games. Capps didn’t say what the game would be. The title is likely to be a big one, since Epic’s games sell in the millions. It will also be bloody, as "Gears of War" features “chainsaw bayonets.”

“You guys are really going to dig it,” Capps said, speaking to a group of journalists at EA’s headquarters in Redwood City.

Epic’s recently acquired development team (People Can Fly studio) in Poland is developing what EA calls an “all-new action title.” The game will be designed for play on PCs, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Epic’s “Gears of War 2” sequel will premier on Nov. 7.

EA already has another Research Triangle area connection, having built a new game development lab in Morrisville, N.C., where a version of its NASCAR 08 title was created.

The other game developer is Grasshopper Manufacture of Japan, a studio run by some well-known game developers: Suda51 and Shinji Mikami.

The latter is the creator of the “Resident Evil” series that has sold millions of copies and is the subject of a few decent zombie horror movies. The alliance is very unusual, considering EA has very little presence in the Japanese market. The title isn’t being described yet, but Mikami said it will be “dark, scary and exciting.”

“It’s just like Ichiro and the Seattle Mariners,” Suda51 said on stage at EA’s headquarters. Mikami said, “I want to earn as much as Ichiro.”

EA hasn’t had the reputation of incubating the best talent inside its own studios. But the EA Partners program is a way to reach the independent developers who can create huge blockbusters. In the past year, it signed up partners that produced big hits such as “Rock Band,” “Crysis,” and “The Orange Box.” It also signed up id Software, creator of “Doom” and the upcoming “Rage” games, at E3.

With these two deals, EA is tapping key talent that has been monopolized in the past by rivals such as Capcom and Microsoft.

EA also announced several new titltes:

• "The Godfather® II"
• "Need for Speed Undercover"
• "SCRABBLE" on the iPhone featuring WiFi play capability
• "Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure."