Will Wright leaves EA

[Oblivion]

...for EA. Well, kinda.

The top game designer in the United States — maybe the world — has left one of the biggest publishers in the industry. And he’s already got a new job.

Will Wright, famous designer of “Sim City,” “The Sims,” and “Spore” is leaving Electronic Arts, his publisher announced today. Wright will be running the Stupid Fun Club, an organization he started in 2001 with EA and had used for robot experiments, TV pilots and other offbeat ideas for years.

Wright had been part of EA since the publisher bought Maxis, the studio where Wright made “Sim City” in 1997.

Wright’s effectively done at EA today, Lucy Bradshaw, vice president and general manager at Maxis told MTV Multiplayer in an interview about the news earlier today. No one’s taken Wright’s office yet, but she imagines someone will occupy it. For aspiring Maxis employees with eyes on that space, note that it has windows and –fittingly for Wright — a “smoker’s patio.”

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.”

http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2009/04/08/will-wright-leaves-ea/

What exactly is the reason people tend to 'leave' a company only to join a company that's still tied to the company they left? It's similar to the situation with Bungie and Jaffe's studio.

[Great Rumbler]

So I guess that means he won't be working on videogames anymore. And Maxis will probably lose whatever creative spark it had left and focus on pumping out more Sims expansion packs.

Wonderful. 

[Fragamemnon]

Maxis' last "creative spark" resulted in a bad Mr. Potato Head simulator. Not even the Civ4 lead designer could salvage the game.

Long past time to put Wright out to pasture. Let me come up with goofball cross-media ideas in his little EA quarantine.

[Great Rumbler]

Maxis' last "creative spark" resulted in a bad Mr. Potato Head simulator. Not even the Civ4 lead designer could salvage the game.

Spore was dissapointing, yes, but the Space portion of the game was still pretty good and it definitely had potential as long as the focused on fleshing out the earlier portions of the game. And at least Spore was something different and not another furniture pack for The Sims 2.

[Fragamemnon]

At least the latest IKEA furniture pack for the Sims 2 had a purpose and let people play interior decorator / designer for their real spaces (and yes people do that).

Spore was atrocious. If it was any more of a non-game then by law it would have been released on PSN or the Wii.

[Great Rumbler]

At least the latest IKEA furniture pack for the Sims 2 had a purpose and let people play interior decorator / designer for their real spaces (and yes people do that).

At least Spore lets you establish your own intergalactic empire.

[treythemovie]

I blame Wiifit

[Great Rumbler]

I blame Wiifit

That might have been the final blow, but their acquisition by EA and the subsequent release of The Sims were where the downward spiral started.

[pilonv1]

need sim city 5

[Great Rumbler]

need sim city 5

 :'(

[Kara]

one of the original peddlers of non-games is finally vanquished

[trippingmartian]

Jeff Green has some explaining to do.

[Bocsius]

Who

[pilonv1]

one of the original peddlers of non-games is finally vanquished

except this one had put out some great games

[Fragamemnon]

one of the original peddlers of non-games is finally vanquished

except this one had put out some great games

miyamoto used to make some great games as well, but at this point both are senile old coots more interested in silly ideas than solid engineering and architecture.

[Fragamemnon]

This is what happens when you're given unlimited money and resources and the end result is Spore.

Seriously. The end product of that game-a fancied up Mr. Potato Head simulator-was abysmal. They even brought in Soren Johnson of Civ4 fame and he couldn't save it.

[Oblivion]

This is what happens when you're given unlimited money and resources and the end result is Spore.

They even brought in Soren Johnson of Civ4 fame and he couldn't save it.

Wait, he actually was part of the development team?

[duckman2000]

one of the original peddlers of non-games is finally vanquished

except this one had put out some great games

miyamoto used to make some great games as well, but at this point both are senile old coots more interested in silly ideas than solid engineering and architecture.

Wasn't he the director of Super Mario Galaxy, though? Generally, legendary game designer doesn't seem to mean a whole lot in terms of quality, which I suppose is perfectly natural, especially given the rapid progression of the medium and constant staff changes.

On a somewhat related note, I'm a bit baffled that Doak (and yes, I know he doesn't qualify for legendary game designer status) has opened another studio.

[recursivelyenumerable]

Maxis' last "creative spark" resulted in a bad Mr. Potato Head simulator. Not even the Civ4 lead designer could salvage the game.

Seriously. The end product of that game-a fancied up Mr. Potato Head simulator-was abysmal. They even brought in Soren Johnson of Civ4 fame and he couldn't save it.

who's getting senile now?

[chronovore]

This is what happens when you're given unlimited money and resources and the end result is Spore.

Well, kinda. But why would EA be one of the primary investors in this new venture if they didn't think it would go large?