The original Maxis, developer of the SimCity andThe Sims games, has been shuttered by EA.
Called Maxis Emeryville at the time of its closing, this original studio was actually founded in Orlando, California in 1987 by Will Wright and Jeff Braun.
Following work on Raid on Bungeling Bay, Wright discovered that the tools he was using to build the maps for Bungeling Bay were more fun to play and tinker with than the game itself. SimCity was the result of Wright’s efforts to spin off these tools into its own city-building game. After failing to convince Bungeling Bay publisher Broderbund to pick up the game, Wright convinced Braun to set up Maxis with him and publish it instead.
SimCity was designed around the idea of building and maintaining a bustling metropolis. The game has a natural open endedness, but the general idea is to keep expanding the city, while one maintains its operations, keeping the citizens happy, and managing everything under budget.
While SimCity was initially not a success, it slowly but surely became a sleeper hit, building Maxis and a franchise that lasted a decade.
On the other hand, The Sims, Maxis’ other crown jewel, is one of the best selling games of all time. As of September 2013, the franchise has sold more than 175 million copies worldwide. The Sims is also open ended in form, but allows you to manipulate the lives of several humanlike Sims in a suburban area.
Maxis literally wrote the book on simulation games like Cities: Skylines, but following the reception of the online only SimCity 2013, their reputation took a serious hit. While their latest game, The Sims 4, seems to have been better received, it does not seem to have performed up to expectations.
In a statement, EA clarified that they would continue to make Sims and Simcity games via Maxis studios in in Redwood Shores, Salt Lake City, Helsinki and Melbourne. Some of the original Emeryville developers, specifically the ones maintaining SimCity 2013, are themselves moving to EA HQ in Redwood City.
EA HR is helping those displaced find other jobs now. If you would like to help Maxis get back on their feet, monitor and share job offers with the #MaxisJobs hashtag on Twitter. Feel free to share your favorite Maxis memories with us below.
Image is from The Sims 4.
