US games giant looks to hire

US-based video game producer Electronic Arts said it would hire as many as 500 people for its new mainland studio to develop online games in China. International Data Corp estimates the online games market should grow fourfold, to US$622 million, between now and 2007. Online players pay around RMB 0.3 yuan an hour to compete against other users on the Internet. Shanghai-based Shanda Interactive Entertainment currently claims a 37% share of the online games market.