Well funded Finnish social developer Supercell is now looking to set up a US operation.

It's just hired former Electrified Games, Pogo and iWin executive Greg Harper as its general manager for North America.

He'll be in charge of building up the company's new San Francisco office.

As part of this drive, Supercell is stressing its 'tablet first' approach to the social gaming market; something it will demonstrate with its first game in this strategy - Battle Buddies.

Powering up

"We welcome Greg to Supercell with great enthusiasm," said CEO Ilkka Paananen.

"The landscape for games is changing yet again, and we firmly believe that tablets are rapidly emerging as the most exciting new platform. The unique confluence of technology, interface, mobility and social packed inside these magical devices opens up brand new opportunities to create rich gameplay experiences designed specifically for the platform."

"I was immediately drawn to the phenomenal creative and technical talent of the team in Helsinki and was inspired by their intense passion to deliver the absolute best gameplay experience possible on the mobile tablet platform," added Harper.

"What we have seen so far on tablets is only the tip of the iceberg."