UK-based development house Codemasters confirmed that it is going to establish North American publishing headquarters in New York. Codemasters naturally needs someone to staff their its new base, so the company is aggressively recruiting for a president and a VP of Sales and Marketing. Nick Wheelwright, Codemasters's Managing Director, stated recently that the new headquarters was required if the company plans to grow in the near future.

　　"As part of our global expansion plans, we have identified the need for fully multi-functional operations in all our key territories, including those outside our home-base in Europe," Wheelwright said. "Obviously, locating our North American headquarters in New York allows us to work more closely with all our strategic partners in the U.S. This is also a clear signal of the seriousness of our plans."

　　The New York team will oversee distribution, sales, marketing, purchasing, creative services, and third-party relations, and it will focus on publishing titles in North America -- development will remain on the West Coast. We spoke with Monica Moulin, a PR representative for Codemasters, about the upcoming office. S and she justified the move by saying, "New York is a commercial center in all industries, and we felt it would suit us. It also gives us a closer base of operations with European-based companies." She also emphatically stated that the new office would "in no way lessen relationships with third parties in the West," and that "ties with development houses in Foster City and Seattle are as strong as ever."