The San Francisco Bay Area is home to a number of game-development companies, but perhaps the most dominant force in the area is Electronic Arts. The publishing powerhouse maintains its headquarters in Redwood City, California, some 20 miles south of San Francisco proper. The site also plays home to some of EA's more prominent developers, such as Dead Space creators Visceral Games.

Soon, EA will find itself facing off against some increased competition in the Bay Area. As indicated by a series of job postings to industry site Gamasutra, Activision Blizzard is in the process of extensively building out a development studio in San Mateo, California. Currently operating under the label Activision - Bay Area, the studio is currently working on "a soon to be announced project based on a successful Activision owned IP," according to the job listing.

Activision appears to be starting from scratch with the studio, as open job reqs at Activision - Bay Area range from creative director and executive producer to level designer and lighter. In all, Activision is currently seeking to fill 20 positions at the studio, and it was unclear if operations have already begun at the Bay Area studio. Activision had not responded to requests for comment on the studio's status as of press time.

Aside from stating that the studio is at work on an owned franchise, not much information can be gleaned from the job listings. Technical positions appear to indicate the in-development project will be for consoles, with the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii specifically mentioned. Of note, the aforementioned executive producer listing indicates that the studio may be at work on up to four multiplatform projects.

Activision already maintains a number of other development studios in the Bay Area. RedOctane, of Guitar Hero fame, is located in Sunnyvale, California, with Toys for Bob, Underground Development, and Shaba taking position in various locations along the peninsula. According to another job listing, San Francisco-based Shaba is working on a new music game for Activision.