Will Wright Leaves Electronic Arts

[DoctorFinger]

Will Wright, arguably the top game designer in the business, has left his long time job with Electronic Arts.

Wright, the mind behind Sim City, The Sims and Spore, joined EA in 1997 when his studio, Maxis, was purchased by the publishing giant. Wright will remain associated with EA via their multimedia joint venture, Stupid Fun Club, set up to create offbeat ideas which mostly revolve around robots.

EA has a first rights option on any games developed by Stupid Fun Club, as well as an equity stake in any other ventures.

Wright explained his departure in a press release: “The entertainment industry is moving rapidly into an era of revolutionary change,” he said in the release announcing his career change. “Stupid Fun Club will explore new possibilities that are emerging from this sublime chaos and create new forms of entertainment on a variety of platforms. In my twelve years at EA, I’ve had the pleasure to work alongside some of the brightest and most talented game developers in the industry and I look forward to working with them again in the near future.”

EA VP Lucy Bradshaw, when pressed whether Wright could go work for another publisher, demurred initially but eventually indicated that he likely cannot go work for another game publisher in the near term.

Source - MTV.

[NoName]

When Spore was announced, there was a lot of promises of innovation that was never seen in the final product. I remember there were other people than just Will Wright with their hand in the proverbial cookie jar when it came to Spore game design decisions.

This could potentially be a good thing if Will gets the freedom to do as he pleases in game design again...

[Orca]

Left EA to...work with EA.

[DoctorFinger]

It sounds like EA has a financial stake in this venture (which is already 7 years old), but no creative stake. Which could be great for Wright. It's also not gaming focused, and from the article seems more interested in TV Pilots than games.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by DoctorFinger

It sounds like EA has a financial stake in this venture (which is already 7 years old), but no creative stake. Which could be great for Wright. It's also not gaming focused, and from the article seems more interested in TV Pilots than games.

Don't tell me he's doing reality tv....because that's what the game's he's made tell me he'd do.

[digitalErich]

The financial backing of EA without the creative veto on a Will Wright game sounds like a recipe for greatness... this is assuming he does games as part of this new venture.

[Wraith]

I wonder if Maxis will continue to exist as its own entity under EA Redwood Shores, or if Wright's departure means that Maxis will now be fully dissolved into EA? I know EA owns the licenses, but I wonder who'll be shaping the SimCity series, in coming years.

Moby Games:

Prior to starting The Sims, the company was acquired by Electronic Arts, Inc. in June 1997. The integration has gone slowly. The studio was officially closed in February 2004 and most of the jobs have been moved to EA Redwood City. Although the studio has been officially closed, the name Maxis still remains associated with The Sims games and most games are thus still credited as such. During the years, EA has been steadily removing Maxis from in-game text and credits, but the name is not completely discarded yet.

The original founder Will Wright is considered one of the industry's visionaries. He currently has a studio in Emeryville, California where he is working on Spore.

Wikipedia:

For many years, Maxis was a traditional studio located in Walnut Creek, California (and before that, Orinda, California), but in February 2004 the division was folded into EA's Redwood Shores headquarters.

The present Maxis is based at Will Wright's studio in Emeryville, California.

[TheEpicOfTyler]

Someone make a new Sim City.

Like a real one. Not all the bullshit they've been pushing out recently.

[Wilkz07]

Next on FOX: SimCity-Build a Utopia. 8 contestants will have the opprotunity of a life time as they each become city planner to create thier own working city. Fresh from leaving EA, Will Wright has used his vast riches to purchase smaller, out of the way, crappy towns no one visits for the ultimate reality show.

Only one winner can be crowned, and YOU America decides which contestants move on and which cities get demolished with the ALL NEW Destructo 5000! Each week the losing city planner will have to hit the button on the Destructo 5000 and watch as their city is literally demolished based on the type of disaster chosen by your votes! Disasters include but not limited to Wrecking Ball Pinball, Building Dominoes, and Parallel Universe Transporter.

Watch SimCity: Build a Utopia coming this summer on FOX!

[LongStepMantis]

Originally Posted by Wilkz07

Next on FOX: SimCity-Build a Utopia. 8 contestants will have the opprotunity of a life time as they each become city planner to create thier own working city. Fresh from leaving EA, Will Wright has used his vast riches to purchase smaller, out of the way, crappy towns no one visits for the ultimate reality show.

Only one winner can be crowned, and YOU America decides which contestants move on and which cities get demolished with the ALL NEW Destructo 5000! Each week the losing city planner will have to hit the button on the Destructo 5000 and watch as their city is literally demolished based on the type of disaster chosen by your votes! Disasters include but not limited to Wrecking Ball Pinball, Building Dominoes, and Parallel Universe Transporter.

Watch SimCity: Build a Utopia coming this summer on FOX!

They won't get my vote until they find a way to include the Godzilla-Bowser Attack disaster.

I don't blame Wright at all for taking off. He seems like a guy with great ideas, maybe his games could actually end up resembling his vision for them in some way. At least, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt...among developers that promise the most earth shatteringly deep games ever, only to deliver few to none of those claims in the end. Even that would depend on what EA decides, legally.

[bean]

He hasn't been on the ground floor of any of his projects for some time. Spore was basically handed off to other people after he came up with the design goals (which may be the cause of it being so disappointing).

This may be the result of Wil Wright simply not having any other game that he wants to do at this point. I can't imagine getting to that point if I am able to become a big game designer, but Wright has always made a very particular type of game (simulations), and after doing city construction, ants, towers, evolution, and people/towns, he may just not have anything that he is dying to get out.

If I was in his position, I'd work to stay at the helm of a game design company though. It would be great to be in a position to be able to make executive decisions on video games and provide artistic vision without having to do much of the work. I can write high level design documents all day.

[Spectre-7]

Originally Posted by Wraith

I wonder if Maxis will continue to exist as its own entity under EA Redwood Shores, or if Wright's departure means that Maxis will now be fully dissolved into EA? I know EA owns the licenses, but I wonder who'll be shaping the SimCity series, in coming years.

Oh. I didn't realize just how out of touch I've been. The last time I checked, the folks I knew at Maxis were in Walnut Creek. Looks like I might need to update my Rolodex...

[Wraith]

You're just about to roll over to 1,000 posts, there, Spectre.

[tombofsoldier]

Wow, didn't see that coming. I'm guessing it's from EA's constant pressure to make things "marketable" instead of just trying to make the game itself. I hope this leads to good things.

[MagGnome]

This is big news, but not really all that surprising. Maxis has been basically non-existant for years, unfortunately.

This sort of reminds me of when Peter Molyneux left what remained of Bullfrog. He left EA to work with....EA.

[Mason]

Originally Posted by bean

He hasn't been on the ground floor of any of his projects for some time. Spore was basically handed off to other people after he came up with the design goals (which may be the cause of it being so disappointing).

I'd say that the larger problem was that it never had any coherent design goals. Lots of people seem to get misty-eyed about Spore as it was first announced, but really, all of its worst failings were present from the start. Everyone just wanted to believe.

Wright had access to an astounding amount of development time and funds, and some of the best talent in the industry, and his vanity project was an overhyped disappointment. It's hard not to see this announcement as putting the guy out to pasture. He'll get to muck around with multimedia robots or whatever, and EA won't get sucked into betting heavily on another unimplementable vision.

[mister slim]

Originally Posted by MagGnome

This is big news, but not really all that surprising. Maxis has been basically non-existant for years, unfortunately.

This sort of reminds me of when Peter Molyneux left what remained of Bullfrog. He left EA to work with....EA.

To be fair, those remnants of Bullfrog were what they were because of Molyneux. The discipline EA imposed on Bullfrog was due to Bullfrog producing rather little with the freedom EA had given them. Kind of similar to the second paragraph of Mason's post actually.

[Pale Ale]

Originally Posted by Wilkz07

Watch SimCity: Build a Utopia coming this summer on FOX!

That's totally an anchor on the fall lineup

[Johan]

Seems to me it is often the case that by the time your name becomes ubiquitous within a particular industry, the industry has passed you, and your better days, by.

[bean]

Originally Posted by Mason

I'd say that the larger problem was that it never had any coherent design goals. Lots of people seem to get misty-eyed about Spore as it was first announced, but really, all of its worst failings were present from the start. Everyone just wanted to believe.

Wright had access to an astounding amount of development time and funds, and some of the best talent in the industry, and his vanity project was an overhyped disappointment. It's hard not to see this announcement as putting the guy out to pasture. He'll get to muck around with multimedia robots or whatever, and EA won't get sucked into betting heavily on another unimplementable vision.

Spore resulted in ~2.5 million sales (estimate as oddly VGChartz does not have records on this game, but there was a story saying that it was approaching 2 million sales only 3 weeks after launch). LIkewise, the DS version sold 840K units. While this is not a success on the level of The Sims, it is certainly still a financial success.

You can bet that if Wil Wright had another idea that sounded good in presentation, EA would be willing to support development of the title.