Aeria Games to open European HQ in Berlin

BERLIN, GERMANY: Aeria Games, a ‘free 2 play’ online games publishers in the United States, has officially announced that it is opening its European headquarters in Germany.

Its European subsidiary, Aeria Games GmbH, will be located in Berlin, the German capital. Since the company's founding in Silicon Valley in 2006, it already has gained over three million players, said a press release.

Aeria Games also announced that it will be releasing a new game, Shaiya, on to the German and French markets in either late 2008 or early 2009.

One of the major tasks of the new European subsidiary is to support the company's expansion into new markets such as Spain and Italy, the release added. This will involve investing in the licensing, publishing, and developing of intellectual property.

Online gaming is a growing industry in Germany, with expected annual growth of over 16 per cent until 2010. Its total revenue hit 390 million EUR in 2007 and is expected to exceed 670 million EUR by 2010, according to Aeria.

“The Aeria Games investment is an example of the strength that Germany has to offer investors in this rapidly growing industry," said Dr. Robert Hermann, director of the team Information and Communications Technologies at Invest in Germany.

Invest in Germany is the inward investment promotion agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. It provides investors with comprehensive support from site selection to the implementation of investment decisions.