ea EA Shuts Down SimCity Developer Maxis

[Slammers]

Ea's done alot of rank ###### last 5 or so years, but you can't blame this one on them. Even with the pricing and drm on the last sim city, the game was shite and sold bad even though some of the big sites gave it 9's a few days before it came out. They dropped the ball so hard with it, you could pretty much max out a city within 5 hours and be forced to start a new one. 

Spore had so much potential , so much hype, it played quite well and presented great but in the end it was extremely lacking in substance, if spore was the beginning of the end, sim city sealed the deal. 

TBH EA as a developer as of late has really made an effort to sort their ###### and become a respectable entity. Certainly everything is not forgiven yet, but I don't think it's fair to blame maxis performance on EA,,,, 

[+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹]

Actually, most of the criticism was directed at the always-online DRM that was included. That's something that EA would have pushed and it massively backfired. It's also worth noting that the pricing was particularly obnoxious, with the regular version costing

[Guest]

I think it is silly how everybody blames EA for shutting down Maxis, where the studio shut down the moment they stopped being independant. As if the name Maxis had any meaning since 1997 or whenever EA bought them.

The studio sold themselves to EA for a reason, not because they wanted to share hugs with the big boys. Most of the studios that EA "shut down" over the years would have shut down on their own a very long time ago.

 

 

After the immense success of SimCity, Maxis experimented with different genres. However, their new games, including The Crystal Skull and SimCopter, were commercial failures.^{[citation needed]} 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.

[SierraSonic]

Actually when publishers say they won't invest in the product unless certain conditions are met, and those conditions are the reason why great games become trash, then the publisher can easily be blamed. Also most good developers start to fail because of three reasons, they either can't spread out from their one hit wonder, or milk it dry by releasing poor quality rushed sequels, or management makes stupid business decisions.

 

Maxis on the other hand, bought out the companies that produced those failures that caused their decline. The Crystal Skull was by Some Interactive. Sure not all their games were great, but management failed them more than their games did.

[Guest]

Sure not all their games were great, but management failed them more than their games did.

 

Which is the case with a lot one-hit wonder studios.

[SierraSonic]

Which is the case with a lot one-hit wonder studios.

True, but in the case of Maxis, they had 2-3 good game series with multiple sequels, the failure was in the acquisition which changed the way their good games were made and the only one that remains is the one where they can gut the most people with DLC. How much for all of The Sims 3 Expansions, and "simpoints"?

 

On a side note: I am tired of games I cannot complete without investing more money to get the complete experience. Especially ones based on investing time that were changed to extend the duration of play while accomplishing less.

[Guest]

True, but in the case of Maxis, they had 2-3 good game series with multiple sequels, the failure was in the acquisition which changed the way their good games were made and the only one that remains is the one where they can gut the most people with DLC. How much for all of The Sims 3 Expansions, and "simpoints"?

 

On a side note: I am tired of games I cannot complete without investing more money to get the complete experience. Especially ones based on investing time that were changed to extend the duration of play while accomplishing less.

 

But then, ask yourself the question. Why did they sell themselves to a third party in the first place? If the roses had been all red and pink, they wouldn't have been looking into selling themselves.

[SierraSonic]

But then, ask yourself the question. Why did they sell themselves to a third party in the first place? If the roses had been all red and pink, they wouldn't have been looking into selling themselves.

Management didn't want to take a risk and went with what they thought was a safer bet. I'm sure now if they looked back they would have chosen a different route.

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Actually, most of the criticism was directed at the always-online DRM that was included. That's something that EA would have pushed and it massively backfired. It's also worth noting that the pricing was particularly obnoxious, with the regular version costing

[blank]

Maxis died the second EA bought them.

Not a big story, or really even news since Maxis essentially was just a logo they put on the box. All EA, and still is.

Will probably still create more Sims games just without the Maxis logo.

[spaceelf]

Will probably still create more Sims games just without the Maxis logo.

There are three other studios under the Maxis umbrella, so I doubt they'll be without the Maxis logo.

[PGHammer]

Actually, most of the criticism was directed at the always-online DRM that was included. That's something that EA would have pushed and it massively backfired. It's also worth noting that the pricing was particularly obnoxious, with the regular version costing

[Aergan]

EA, where classic developers go to die.

 

That sums this recent news up brilliantly

[Orange Battery]

I think a modern simcity, designed for mobiles and tablets could have done well but Maxis had no real control anymore and I guess it's because of EA. Huge shame.

[spy beef]

Next to go will be Bioware. Mark my words.