This was not on the list of pre-selected disasters; I don’t know how to deal with it.
EA has announced that Maxis, developer behind SimCity—and, by extension, the entire Sims franchise—and Spore among others, has officially closed its doors. The studio’s franchises will live on through other branches of the EA Maxis subsidiary, so this news shouldn’t have a huge impact on fans, but we’re willing to bet it means a lot to those who work at Maxis headquarters in Emeryville, California, which has been shut down.
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 (@MaxisGuillaume) March 4, 2015
EA released a statement (via Kotaku) after the news broke, stating,
Today we are consolidating Maxis IP development to our studios in Redwood Shores [The Sims Studio], Salt Lake City [EA Salt Lake], Helsinki [Maxis 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.
Good luck to the staff of Maxis Emeryville, and thanks for years of unforgettable fun.
(via Richard George)
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