Epic Games opens Korean shop

If North Carolina-based Epic Games keeps expanding, it won't be long before the Gears of War developer and Unreal Engine maker boasts an "epic" organization in scale as well as in name. In 2007, the company acquired Painkiller studio People Can Fly and followed that up with the acquisition of Undertow developer Chair Entertainment. Even Epic's Chinese operation has been expanding, recently opening up a Seattle, Washington-based arm.

The growth trend continues, as today the company announced the opening of Epic Games Korea. A wholly owned subsidiary centered in Seoul, the new shop will handle Unreal Engine 3 licensing and support to the Korean development community.

The lack of a local Epic subsidiary hasn't kept Korean companies from signing on to use Epic's Unreal tech in their games. Webzen has been building its long-awaited online shooter Huxley using Unreal Engine 3, while NCsoft adopted the technology for a pair of "top-tier" massively multiplayer online games last year.

The Korean outfit will be headed up by territory manager Ray Park, a former business and strategy development manager for Massive Inc. Beyond helping Microsoft's in-game ad provider establish a foothold in Korea, Park is also a veteran of Sony Computer Entertainment Korea, where he managed the third-party software licensing group. Former Softmax lead engine programmer Jack Porter will also be a core part of the Epic Games Korea team. It will be Porter's second tour of duty with Epic, having previously worked on Unreal Engine and the Unreal series of games for the company.