GCREST, an online publisher of several games including casual game @games with over one million players in Asia, today announced the opening of its first office in San Francisco, CA. In addition to its Tokyo-based headquarters, the American office will answer specific demands of US communities and expand its presence in the North American market.

"We are thrilled and really excited to open our first office in San Francisco. Despite the economic downturn we have experienced a strong demand of users to expand our presence in America" said Masaru Ohnogi, VP of global operations.

The strategic location in the "South of Market" area of San Francisco – the heart of games innovation and creativity — combined with GCREST's many years of experience in online business will enable the company to consolidate, intensify, and broaden the reach to existing and potential customers.

American teens represent over 50% of the overall customer database of TinierMe, their first global free-to-play game portal. The English version was released in open Beta in October and the mission of the US teams will be to further identify cultural similarities and differences, collect ongoing feedback, increase the community of users, and build affiliations with local companies.

"The online game market has already been multifaceted and flooded with a wide range of similar products; therefore it's going to be more difficult to collect millions of users without going global" said Ohnogi. "Providing sophisticated, easy-to access and territory focused services is the backbone of our strategy. We will maximize our strength to entertain as many people as possible worldwide. We're starting with North America because many of our fans are here in the US!"

The office will open officially on February 2010 at 611 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA. GCREST Entertainment will share the office with one of its shareholders CyberAgent America, Inc.