EA just killed Maxis!

[Hellser]

I just learned the news. EA just killed Maxis like an old dog. EA wasn't happy with Maxis' latest games (SimCity reboot and The Sims 4), and they've just shut down Maxis. Let us give a moment of silence for classics such as SimTower, SimCity; 2000 and 3000, and the Sims 1-3 series.

Read about it here:
Kotaku
Gameinformer
Incgamer

[Trance]

So Maxis gets to join the likes of Origin Systems, Westwood Studios, and Bullfrog as once-timeless companies that have been swallowed up and shat out by a bunch of shortsighted bastards fueled by nothing else in their life but profit motive.

Fuck EA with a chainsaw.

[SamVision]

Electronic Arts. ARTS! Something about their name doesn't work anymore.

[Viscra Maelstrom]

Electronic Arts. ARTS! Something about their name doesn't work anymore.

well, they're definitely showing the art of acting like complete idiots.

[NeuralStunner]

I just learned the news. EA just killed Maxis like an old dog. EA wasn't happy with Maxis' latest games (SimCity reboot and The Sims 4), and they've just shut down Maxis.

To be fair, I doubt much (if anything) was left of the old Maxis that actually made the games we liked. (I didn't even know they were still using the brand after the first The Sims.)

[Trance]

You say that like it was Maxis' fault.

[Graf Zahl]

Normally these once innovative studios lose their magic the moment they sell out.
The shutdown a few years later is just the inevitable consequence of that sell out.
Wanna make a guess how many years id still has? They also are bled dry by now with all the creative heads from their good years gone.

I'm waiting for the moment when one of the big shots eventually has to fold, it just has to happen, seeing how inefficiently they operate.

[Trance]

Normally these once innovative studios lose their magic the moment they sell out.

Because once they sell out they're immediately brought under the yoke of another company entirely devoted to the pursuit of short-term financial gain. I can't think of a major game franchise EA has acquired that hasn't subsequently caught flak for attempting some blatant cash grab like day-1 DLC or obnoxious microtransactions.

Ultimately I hope that this sort of business philosophy proves to be EA's undoing, but the downside to that is that EA is going to throw every developer they've acquired out of the plane before they go themselves.

[NeuralStunner]

You say that like it was Maxis' fault.

What?

Wanna make a guess how many years id still has? They also are bled dry by now with all the creative heads from their good years gone.

Well... Tim Willits is still around, and seems like kind of a jerk.

[Enjay]

Has Maxis really been Maxis recently anyway? I mean, it's sad an all but wasn't Maxis basically already gone?

[Trance]

What?

1) Successful developer acquired by EA. 2) Developer directed to crank out more of what made them big money. 3) EA puts developer under immense pressure to get their stuff out as quickly as possible, preferably integrating a system that turns their product into a constant revenue stream. 4) Revenue from product unsurprisingly falls short of EA's expectations because their meddling unfailingly results in a less enjoyable game. Repeat steps 2 through 4 enough times and EA liquidates the developer in question for no longer being financially viable.

If Maxis has been making shit in recent years, it is entirely the fault of their parent company. They were bled out before they were killed.

[NeuralStunner]

If Maxis has been making shit in recent years, it is entirely the fault of their parent company. They were bled out before they were killed.

How does that contradict anything I said? Enjay basically said exactly the same thing, and I didn't see any objections.

Will Wright left in '09, I haven't checked but I'm sure there has been a lot of other staff turnover in 15+ years.

[Reactor]

EA = a couple of incompetent nincompoops. Since the Westwood's downfall, I had a sneaky feeling that EA doesn't really do this (just) to round up the big-shots from smaller software corporations, but to nullify the concurrence, e.g. any other developing corporation who is capable of churning out somethin' which worths purchasing, while themselves being no better than Shitty interactive. If there are no better developers, the audience will be kinda forced to buy the shit.

And of course, the audience will not. They'll just warez their stuff down, if it actually worths the bandwith wasted on...

[Trance]

How does that contradict anything I said? Enjay basically said exactly the same thing, and I didn't see any objections.

You didn't seem to understand why I posted what I did. The "What?" and all that. I still don't think you do. Enjay did indeed say the same thing, and my response applies just as much.

The "to be fair, they've been shit in recent years" angle seems ignorant, if not almost dismissive, of the company's legacy and of the reasons why they were shit in recent years.

[Graf Zahl]

The reason they were shit is not EA alone. It's mostly the owners of the company cashing in on their success and leaving the rotting corpse for the corporate monster to digest.