Jobs boost for Cork

Cork received a welcome jobs boost today with the confirmation that US online gaming company Big Fish Games is to set up its European headquarters in the city's Mahon suburb, creating up to 100 positions over the next three years.

The announcement was made in Cork today by Tánaiste Mary Coughlan and Jeremy Lewis, CEO of the Seattle-headquartered company.

The new office will focus on multilingual European customer support, games testing and localisation, according to a statement. Recruitment is already underway for people with localisation skills and the capability to communicate effectively with its customers, particularly in French, German and Spanish.

“Ireland has a proven ability to satisfy the needs of highly inventive and technologically advanced projects through the provision of talented people, and the infrastructure required for success," Minister Coughlan said.

"This investment once again demonstrates that Ireland is very much open for business and is positively viewed by international investors.”

The company currently distributes more than 1.5 million games per day to customers worldwide through its English, German, French, Spanish and Japanese language portals.

“Greater than 50% of our customers are outside of the United States and speak languages other than English," Mr Lewis said. "Our European headquarters will further enhance our focus and commitment to providing unparalleled service to our rapidly growing base of customers in these regions.

"Big Fish Games chose Cork because of the availability of a skilled and multilingual workforce, which we require for the development and growth of our worldwide business. We look forward to integrating into the business and social community here in Cork and rapidly becoming an

employer of choice,” he said.

Big Fish Games’ European operations will be overseen by a Cork native, Oliver Coughlan, who was the former Chief Technical Officer of O2 Ireland.

Founded in 2002, Big Fish Games develops and publishes games for computers and mobile devices. It employs approximately 350 people in the US.