Well, here’s another stark reminder of the “what have you done for me lately?” nature of the video game industry: EA is shutting down Maxis. Or at least, they’re shutting down Maxis Emeryville, the core Maxis studio founded by Will Wright that was responsible for the creation of franchises like SimCity, The Sims, and most importantly of all, SimAnt. Oh, SimAnt.
EA had this to say about the decision…
“Today we are consolidating Maxis IP development to our studios in Redwood Shores, Salt Lake City, Helsinki and Melbourne locations as we close our Emeryville location. Maxis continues to support and develop new experiences for current Sims and SimCity players, while expanding our franchises to new platforms and developing new cross-platform IP.
All employees impacted by the changes today will be given opportunities to explore other positions within the Maxis studios and throughout EA. For those that are leaving the company, we are working to ensure the best possible transition with separation packages and career assistance.”
In other words, “We’re going to keep the Maxis name around for branding purposes, but we’re tearing the actual studio’s heart out.”
I suppose we should have seen it coming. The latest SimCity was a unending disaster, and we’re unfortunately in an era where one false step can ruin a studio that’s changed gaming as we know it and generated billions of dollars over nearly 30 years. I suggest that you all pour one out for Maxis tonight and build the best damn SimCity 2000 city you can.