EA fecha a Maxis

[Winjer]

EA Shuts Down ‘SimCity’ & ‘The Sims’ Developer Maxis (http://gamerant.com/sims-city-developer-maxis-shut-down/)



http://cdn.gamerant.com/wp-content/uploads/maxis-header1-700x350.jpg
EA have announced the closure of Maxis Emeryville, the studio behind such iconic titles as SimCity and The Sims. Rumors were circulating that the studio might have met its end after employees began tweeting about the situation, but those reports have now been confirmed in a statement released to Polygon (http://www.polygon.com/2015/3/4/8149791/ea-closes-maxis-simcity-the-sims) by EA (http://gamerant.com/tag/ea) earlier today.

Founded in 1987, Maxis (http://gamerant.com/tag/maxis) first rose to prominence with the release of the originalSimCity (http://gamerant.com/tag/simcity). That title established the template for much of the studio’s output, which co-founder Will Wright would later compare to ‘digital dollhouses’. These titles encouraged ongoing play, without the strict win conditions and fail states often expected from video games.
While SimCity is one of the most beloved series in gaming, Maxis’ biggest hit would come in 2000 with the release of The Sims (http://gamerant.com/tag/the-sims). The franchise has sold more than 100 million units in the years since, with The Sims 4 being released just last year to a moderately positive response (http://gamerant.com/the-sims-4-reviews/).

The Sims and SimCity were certainly Maxis’ most well-known contributions to the video game canon, but their smaller titles found just as dedicated a following. Games like SimAnt, SimCopter and Streets of SimCity couldn’t rival the sales of their bigger siblings, but will nevertheless endure thanks to their fans for years to come.
While this news wasn’t anticipated, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise. The studio’s 2013 reboot of SimCity was met with widespread criticism from fans (http://gamerant.com/simcity-launch-problems-ea-free-pc-game/)thanks to its focus on online city-building rather than a robust single-player experience (http://gamerant.com/simcity-offline-mode-survey/), and EA have a nasty habit of closing studios associated with poorly received projects.
In 2001, EA shuttered Bullfrog, another noted PC developer responsible for titles like Magic Carpet and Dungeon Keeper. Then 2003 saw Command & Conquer devs Westwood Studios suffer the same fate, and Star Wars: Battlefront (http://gamerant.com/tag/star-wars-battlefront/) andMercenaries creators Pandemic were shut down in 2009.
The Sims and SimCity will, however, continue on even without the studio that created them. Sister studios in Salt Lake City, Redwood Shores, Helsinki and Melbourne will continue their efforts in producing DLC content (http://gamerant.com/the-sims-4-star-wars-costumes-pools-ghosts/) and mobile ports for both franchises.
Nevertheless, it’s a shame to see a studio with such a rich history dismantled. Hopefully, the talented men and women working at Maxis Emeryville will be able to find a suitable home for their skills; EA maintains that opportunities are being offered up, despite the fact that SimCity gameplay scripter Guillaume Pierretweeted earlier (https://twitter.com/MaxisGuillaume/status/573205881837367296) that ‘everyone’s out of a job’.


Mais um estúdio que outrora foi um símbolo de qualidade e inovação, a ser destruído pela EA. É pena que as politicas e má gestão da EA continue a matar bons estúdios cheios de pessoal com talento.
Isto não afecta a saga dos Sims. O estúdio que fechou é apenas o original.... Simcity, Spore, etc.

[MAXLD]

Pode ser que venha ao de cima mais detalhes sobre os podres do projecto Simcity e das orientações (forçadas ou não) do mesmo. Mesmo que tivesse sido a Maxis a tomar essas decisões, parece-me um bocado triste, principalmente para uma empresa com a dimensão da EA, que não se dê uma oportunidade para inverter e melhorar com o próximo projecto a seguir.

Mas pronto, o mal está feito, e o facto da EA querer limpar a imagem da "pior empresa do ano", faz com que não se estranhe este tipo de decisões, dada a flak que o Simcity levou em cima... e Sims4 tb n ficou grande coisa na fotografia.

Com o Cities Skylines a ganhar grande reputação ainda antes do lançamento, digamos que o pessoal fã do estilo vai ter finalmente alternativa ao mais alto nível para voltar a ter boas horas de jogo. Mas ver pessoal a ser despedido em massa é sempre lamentável. Pode ser que alguns deles ganhem ímpeto para agora reagrupar e fazer as coisas de forma livre, independente e com a orientação que pretendem.
Resultou com o pessoal do Torchlight (Runic Games - (ex-Diablo)).

[Jorge-Vieira]

Onde a EA mete as mãos é quase destruição certa...
Vamos a ver se temos mais detalhes de alguns jogos.

[Winjer]

Já temos algumas respostas, mas é bem pior do que estava à espera.
O estudio não foi fechado por dar prejuízo, mas por não dar lucro quanto baste, em comparação com o The Sims.

Ex-Maxis Dev on EA – Great Place to Work, Maxis Was Closed Due to The Sims Overshadowing SimCity (http://www.dsogaming.com/news/ex-maxis-dev-on-ea-great-place-to-work-maxis-was-closed-due-to-the-sims-overshadowing-simcity/)



Reddit’s member ‘vertexnormal (http://www.reddit.com/r/SimCity/comments/2xxvz1/ea_closes_maxis_emeryville/cp4whh2)‘ – who is a former Maxis developer – has talked a bit about the closure of Maxis Emeryville, and shed some additional light to it. According to vertexnormal, Maxis Emeryville was closed because the SimCity series was it suffered from The Sims’ huge success. And even though the older SimCity games made a profit, they were not even close to what The Sims had achieved.vertexnormal started by stating that Maxis closure was a result of its – perhaps underwhelming – returns.
“Money. It all comes down to money. EA as a corporation doesn’t share our sense of obligation out of sentimentality. Hence today’s announcement.” said vertexnormal and revealed why there was such a big gap between the previous and the latest parts of SimCity:

“The long gap is probably caused by several factors. First was that the expansion for SC4 didn’t print cash like The Sims was at the time. Sure it made money, but The Sims had a HUGE (I remember reading 16x) return on the investment. So it got deprioritized to make The Sims 2. Which again made huge returns.”


vertexnormal then explained EA’s greenlight gating process (regarding its projects) and concluded that the last SimCity game was in development for 3-4 years.
“So, during that 10 year wait there was almost 9 years of silence. 3 or 4 of those years had active development of the game that shipped, with another year or more of a small group of creatives. There were other attempts that never made the light of day, and products (Simcity Societies comes to mind) that didn’t deliver that ‘SimCity’ experience.”


As vertexnormal said, it all comes down to money. Regardless of that, vertexnormal closed his huge post by saying that EA is a great place to work nowadays.

“EA is actually a great place to work these days. In the past there were difficulties (I was part of the EA Spouse/class action) but a lot of that has turned around. They really do want to retain talent and minimize layoffs. Not everyone shares this experience, but I haven’t worked back-to-back weekends in almost a decade. EA has a really good benefits package, competitive pay, and a strong sense of progressive public responsibility. Maxis, in particular, the Sims side has what is probably the highest level of gender equality in the industry.”


All in all, Maxis closure was all about business and money. Which also could explain why the game featured small cities (lower budget and a tight dealine equals to a dumbed down game), and that awful always online DRM (that was later removed).

[Winjer]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-hfRytMLUk