200-job Galway project on schedule for March start-up

BY FRANK FARRAGHER Recruitment of senior management personnel for the new EA Bioware electronic games centre in the city is already well under way with the 200-job project on schedule for a March/April, 2011 start-up date, the IDA has confirmed.

It now seems almost certain that the state-of-the-art customer services and operations centre for the EA (Electronic Arts) Bioware group will be located in the Parkmore Industrial Estate at an existing building on the site.

Established in the USA in 1982, EA and its Bioware subsidiary has established itself as one of the world’s leading electronic games companies – last May it confirmed plans to set up a ‘studio’ in Galway with the creation of 200 jobs.

The operation now seems certain to be located in an existing 50,000 square ft unit on the Parkmore Estate which will be modified internally over the coming months to suit the specification requirements of EA Bioware.

While IDA Ireland declined to make any comment on the exact location of the plant in the city, they confirmed this week that the project was on track for a March/April start-up date next year.

IDA Regional Manager for the Western Region, Jim Murren, told the Galway City Tribune yesterday that recruitment of senior management personnel by the company was already under way.

“We expect that recruitment for the main body of people to be employed by EA Bioware will begin early in the New Year. This is a very exciting project not only for Galway but for the entire western region,” said Jim Murren.

He said that while it was ‘early days’ yet, the move of EA Bioware to Galway seemed likely to have very positive implications for the city both in terms of spin-off potential and the possibility of other similar type projects coming to the west region.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.