Has EA opened a Kinect studio?

Electronic Arts could be the latest company to dedicate an entire studio to Kinect and motion control game development.

The publisher announced today that it will move its Salt Lake team to a new 20,000 square foot building in the Utah capital.

EA Salt Lake was in another life the indie outfit Headgate Studios. Acquired by the publishing giant back in 2006, the studio quickly turned to the development of Wii titles and casual games.

Now the group’s 100 staff have transferred to a far larger office located nearby, in a move that could suggest Salt Lake’s work remit has expanded beyond Wii development.

Developers have in the past struggled with motion control projects, as the typical office setup leaves little physical space for developers to test their games by jumping, running and swinging arms.

In fact, UK outfit Rare recently opened a new studio in Birmingham specifically with enough space to test Kinect titles.

In a statement EA said the “highly talented Salt Lake Studio has been responsible for producing several top-selling family-friendly video game franchises under the EA Play Label”.

The group added that new Salt Lake is “specifically designed to promote the creation of innovative video game content”, adding that “the floor plan has very few fixed walls and owners”.

Chip Lange, general manager at EA’s Hasbro division, said the move means the group is “able to build a state-of-the-art facility that fits the development studio needs.”