THQ Adds China Office For Company Of Heroes Online, Local Partnerships

THQ's XDG division has told Gamasutra that it will open its new global HQ in Shanghai, China as part of its expansion. The firm's Kevin Chu revealed that the office will aid with Company Of Heroes Online and help the firm expand its local partnerships for online and console games. The China office will be the company's base to "spearhead the expansion of local partnerships to develop and publish both online and console games," Kevin Chu, corporate director of THQ's External Development Group (XDG), told Gamasutra in a new feature on outsourcing. Chu is moving his office to Shanghai to head up global XDG operations from there. "I believe that shows how big a commitment the company has to how well our process is working," he says. The first China project which XDG is aiding with will be free-to-play, microtransaction-driven Company of Heroes Online, designed specifically for Asia, in collaboration with THQ's Chinese operating partner, Shanda Interactive Entertainment. This project was recently mentioned as a key expansion into new free-to-play markets by THQ's president and CEO Brian Farrell. [For more info on THQ's outsourcing efforts, read the full Gamasutra feature, which also talks to Wideload Games and Kuju Entertainment for a developer-specific angle on the outsourcing issue.]