Mumbai: Electronic Arts Inc. has opened a new studio, Pogo Austin, to build exciting new games as part of the Pogo.com team. The Pogo Austin team will be joining EA’s Bioware studio in Austin, Texas.

The new studio will focus on creating family-friendly titles based on Hasbro properties. The initial team of 12 features Austin natives who boast more than 108 years of collective game experience and have shipped titles at companies such as LucasArts, Aspyr Media, Acclaim, Amaze Entertainment, Human Code, Origin Systems and Family Time Interactive.

The first title to be released from Pogo Austin is PICTUREKA! MUSEUM MAYHEM. This quirky seek and find game is based on the Hasbro game PICTUREKA! which debuted in 2007 and launched globally in 2008. In the digital version, a player becomes the new curator for a museum and investigates some odd things that are afoot. The game is set to launch online in November at Pogo.com for $19.95 (US) and £11.95 (UK); it will be available at retail in early winter.

"We are thrilled to open a studio in Austin as there is such an enthusiastic and knowledgeable game development community," said Pogo general manager Andrew Pedersen. "It’s great to be a part of that spirit and I feel privileged to be working with a team full of game makers who bring such tremendous talent and experience to the Pogo team."

"PICTUREKA! MUSEUM MAYHEM has incredibly broad appeal. The game is fun for the entire family, whether you’re six or 106. It brings everyone together and puts kids and adults on equal ground for laugh out-loud moments. We wanted to create an online PICTUREKA! experience that would be equally outrageous for players of all ages," said Pogo Austin studio director Sean Clark. "Many members of the Austin team have families and it’s exciting to be able to make a game that they can play and share with their children."