Gamers who have been following the history of Electronic Arts know that not all studios survive after joining EA. Throughout the years, we’ve seen many developers become members of the EA family and then being shut down due to various reasons. Today, Maxis Emeryville, the studio founded in 1987 by Will Wright and Jeff Braun and the one in charge of SimCity and The Sims franchises, has been shut down today.
Guillaume Pierre, the lead gameplay scripter of the latest SimCity titles, shared the unfortunate news with Beyond Sims.
Well it was a fun 12 years, but it's time to turn off the lights and put the key under the door. #RIPMaxisEmeryville
— Guillaume Pierre (@DesignGuillaume) March 4, 2015
@F2CMaDMaXX @beyondsims yes. Everyone's out of a job.
— Guillaume Pierre (@DesignGuillaume) March 4, 2015
EA sent a message to the media about the closure of Maxis Emeryville:
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.
These changes do not impact our plans for The Sims. Players will continue to see rich new experiences in The Sims 4, with our first expansion pack coming soon along with a full slate of additional updates and content in the pipeline.
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.
Besides the people at Maxis Emeryville, other people previously involved in the making of The Sims were laid off at EA’s Redwood Shores studio.
Maxis Emeryville faced many problems with the release of a new SimCity game two years ago.
[Source]: Beyond Sims: EA closes Maxis Emeryville; Polygon: EA shuts down Maxis Emeryville, studio behind SimCity (update).
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