Sony Corp unit to set up game studio in India

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Sony Online Entertainment is all set to open a game development studio in India, Vice President Business Development & International Operations, David Christensen, said on Wednesday.

"Our goal is to have an office in India," he said on the sidelines of a gaming conference.

The company is talking to potential joint venture partners in India for setting up the game studio, which is expected to come up in the first quarter of 2008, he said. This studio would develop games for the online PC gaming market in India.

"We have identified a couple of game developers in India and we are in talks with them," Christensen said, adding Sony would provide technical expertise while the local partner would contribute to the physical infrastructure and local market expertise.

The studio is most likely to come up in Bangalore, he said.

Sony Online is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the principal businesses of Sony Corp of America, the U.S. subsidiary of Tokyo-headquartered Sony Corp.

In August this year, Sony Online had announced a tie-up with Virgin Comics to launch a multi-player online game based on the Hindu epic Ramayana.