The next time you see your kid transfixed by a video game and unable to put down the controller, don’t brood. Your sunshine-leery child may have a valuable future right here in Baton Rouge. Later this morning, Gov. Bobby Jindal is slated to break ground on the Louisiana Digital Media Center on LSU’s campus, which will be home to Electronic Art’s North American Testing Center. EA is responsible for wildly popular lines like Madden NFL and Tiger Woods golf, and it will be sports titles like these that will play a major role in this new development. The testing center will be the only such outfit in the entire U.S. and will eventually create at least 600 jobs, at least half of which will be full time. When Jindal first brokered the deal in 2008, he laughingly called it a “dream job for some kids.” In working with Jindal, EA was able to take advantage of the state’s Digital Media Tax Credit Program and score additional assistance from Louisiana Economic Development and city-parish government. Then there’s the big picture: Video game sales in the U.S. represent a $10 billion industry with an anticipated annual growth rate of 10%. And Baton Rouge is now uniquely poised to compete for some of that business. The Louisiana Digital Media Center will be located in the southeastern corner of the campus, off of East Parker Boulevard, and it will take up more than 94,000 square feet. LSU’s Center for Computation and Technology will also be housed there. —Jeremy Alford
This story has been corrected since it was originally published.
