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Electronic Arts(EA) is officially closing down Maxis, the legendary studio behind The Sims and SimCity franchises.
After several reports on Twitter from former(as of now) Maxis employees about losing their job or the end of the studio, EA eventually confirmed the shutting down of the studio in a statement to Polygon. The details of how many employees will be losing their jobs is unknown at the moment.
The statement reveals that Maxis is officially shut down, but it does not mean that the development of The Sims or SimCity will be stopped. The two franchises will now continue to be developed at EA's studios in Redwood Shores, California - Salt Lake City - Helsinki and Melbourne, Australia. But the core/home offices of Maxis in Emeryville, California are being closed.
The statement by EA says:
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.
Many of the Maxis employees tweeted about the studio closing down, which includes the long time 12 year long employee Guillaume Pierre who was one of the designers and the lead gameplay scripters. These are a few:
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
Well it was a good run. Maxis Emeryville closes as of today :( #simcity
— Barrie Tingle (@barrietingle) March 4, 2015
Sad to see end of Maxis Emeryville. So many great folks and so much talent, but I guess all good things must end. Best of luck to everyone!
— Maxis Scott (@MaxisScott) March 4, 2015
Very sad to hear about Maxis in Emeryville closing. Working on Spore and Sims 2 with amazing people were the highlights of my years in SF.
— Alex Hutchinson (@BangBangClick) March 4, 2015
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Muhammad Junaid
Muhammad Junaid is the writer of Entertainment Ghost. He writes articles, reviews, previews and entertainment news about gaming, technology, the media and so on. You can follow him on Twitter @Mr_MJunaid and Facebook MJunaid
