Maxis

Maxis is an American video game developer and a division of Electronic Arts (EA). The studio was founded in 1987 by Will Wright and Jeff Braun, and acquired by EA in 1997. Maxis is best known for its simulation games, including The Sims.

Maxis' Emeryville studio was closed in March 2015, moving development of Maxis titles to other EA studio locations. Employees of the Emeryville studio were "given opportunities to explore" other positions within Maxis and other EA studios. In an organisational restructure later in September, the now consolidated Maxis team was moved to function alongside EA Mobile.

Origin and early acclaim
Maxis was founded in 1987 by Will Wright and Jeff Braun to help publish SimCity on home computers. Before then, the game was only available on a limited basis on the Commodore 64 due to few publishers showing any interest in porting it. The reason for this is because SimCity was not a traditional game that had definite "win" and "lose" conditions. The title went on to become one of the most popular and successful video games of all time. The SimCity series has spawned multiple sequels and spin-offs. Following the broad success of SimCity 2000, Maxis moved from Orinda, California, to Walnut Creek in 1994.

After such success with the SimCity series, Maxis tried various other Sim- titles. Some of these attempts include SimAnt, SimFarm, SimEarth, SimLife, SimTower, SimIsle and SimHealth. Maxis was also approached by companies to design business aids; SimRefinery is one example. The success of these franchises varies, but none matched that of the original SimCity.

Maxis released some non-simulation titles, such as 1991's RoboSport and 1995's 3D Pinball for Windows, which was included as one of the standard system games in several Windows releases. On June 1, 1995, Maxis became a public company.

Origin of the name
Maxis's name was derived from a formula suggested by Jeff Braun's father: video game companies should have two-syllable names and should include an 'x'.

Decline
After the success of SimCity, Maxis experimented with different genres. However, their new games, including The Crystal Skull and SimCopter, were commercial failures. They also acquired Cinematronics to create a game called Crucible and Full Tilt! Pinball. Heavy losses and lack of direction led Maxis to begin considering acquisition offers.

Acquisition by Electronic Arts
In 1997 Maxis agreed to be acquired by Electronic Arts by means of a stock swap which valued Maxis at $125 million. The transaction completed on July 28, 1997.

Over 1998 Maxis was allowed to finish SimCity 3000 on its own time; following this, Wright's efforts were thrown into The Sims, at the time seen as a major gamble for the company, as the dollhouse game was not seen as a match for the video game market's demographics. The Sims was released in February 2000; its success buoyed Wright's reputation and saved Maxis as a separate working unit. For the first half of the decade, Maxis continued to produce expansions and sequels to The Sims. In 2004, Maxis' longtime studios in Walnut Creek were closed, and the staff moved to EA offices in Redwood City.

SimCity 4 was released in 2003. It was the first title in the series to implement true 3D, as well as the first where Wright was not directly involved with work.

Spore, hiatus, and revival
As The Sims became a steady success, Will Wright began to focus on Spore. The three years between its public announcement and its release were protracted enough to attract use of the term "vaporware" by some, and upon its 2008 release, found itself subject to harsh criticism and the target of a consumer protest against Electronic Arts. Despite the poor launch publicity, Spore sold 1 million units in its first month.

Will Wright left Maxis in 2009. Maxis' only new standalone title until 2013 was Darkspore. During this time, Maxis.com redirected to the Spore website, then later once more to the website for The Sims. Throughout this period, the studio continued to operate in Emeryville.

At the 2012 Game Developers Conference, EA announced a new SimCity along with a new logo for the Maxis brand. Maxis became one of four primary labels at EA, replacing the "EA Play" brand. Development of The Sims continued, and Maxis branding returned in 2013 with the launch of The Sims 3: University Life, and SimCity (2013).

Emeryville studio closure
In March 2015, it was revealed by Guillaume Pierre, lead gameplay scripter of SimCity, that Maxis' Emeryville studio was being closed. On September 25, 2015, Electronic Arts announced that in an organisation restructure, the consolidated Maxis team would continue their work alongside the EA Mobile division, under Samantha Ryan, senior vice president for EA Mobile and Maxis. However, the CEO of Electronic Arts added that the "collaboration" would still see most of Maxis' future products available for personal computers.

In September 2016, EA Mobile, Maxis and BioWare joined EA Worldwide Studios.

Notable games
Maxis is regarded for its innovative simulation games, in which there is no specific goal to the player, making its games almost endless.

SimCity series
SimCity was Maxis' first release and innovated the conception of gaming as there was no specific goal to be reached, meaning that it could neither be won nor lost. The player is a mayor that may, at their leisure, take a city from a single village to a successful metropolis, laying down zones, taking care of the public services and stimulating the city's economy. The series includes six main games (SimCity, SimCity 2000, SimCity 3000, SimCity 4, SimCity Societies and SimCity) and three spin-offs, Sim City: The Card Game, SimCopter and Streets of SimCity. SimCity Societies, the fifth main release, was not produced by Maxis, but by Tilted Mill Entertainment, being described as a 'social engineering simulator' and criticized for the lack of SimCity's traditional formula. In 2013, Maxis label Emeryville released a new version of SimCity.

The Sims
Maxis' most successful series to date and one of the best-selling PC games of all time is The Sims (2000). Maxis has developed seven expansion packs for the game as well as an online version (The Sims Online). Maxis released The Sims 2 in 2004, a sequel title that features a full 3D environment as opposed to the original's dimetric engine.

On May 6, 2013, it was announced that Maxis would be developing The Sims 4. The game was released internationally in September 2014.

Spore
Spore was released on September 2008. Players create species starting at the single cell level, and develop them into sentient life. The goal is for them to eventually gain the intelligence to create spaceships. The Spore Creature Creator allows users to create species for later use in the game. This is one of few Maxis' games to feature goals on its plot as the player must complete five different phases and reach the space-traveling technology. There is also an ultimate goal, which is entering the galactic core, a massive black hole surrounded by a powerful and hostile cyborg species called the Grox. However, the player can stay in a single phase as long as they wish, even after completing it.

The game holds an 84 Metascore on Metacritic, indicating generally positive reviews from critics which is tempered by the overwhelming number of negative user reviews, mostly relating to the game's technical issues. EA Games confirmed the production of expansion packs due to Spore's financial success, later releasing Spore: Galactic Adventures in 2009 as well as several spin-offs and "parts packs", plus the addition of the spin-off of Spore, Darkspore.