Maxis, a very renown and storied studio, behind one of the most successful franchise within gaming, a studio which once being name dropped created a myriad of positive emotions.
A studio which was once synonymous with creativity, of bold decisions, a studio which was a pioneer of the simulation genre, and revolutionized edutainment as we know it, a studio which once changed the way many people looked at games in general.
Now, a name that means nothing more than bittersweet regret, and pain.
Have you wondered, where it all began?
A Little Project
It all started with two games, SkyChase and Simcity, and two men, the legend himself Will Wright, and Jeff Braun.
Simcity had been made, for the Commodore 64 that is, they were limited with the distribution, due to the fact that very little publishers were interested on porting a game such as Simcity to other platforms.
The reason? It was quite simple really, publishers at the time didn’t think a game so “out there” would be profitable, thinking that games should be something more akin to arcades, or that they needed to have proper win and lose conditions for them to be actually entertaining, Simcity was by far, too different from what was thought of as a “proper game,” and many of the suits were skeptical about it, seeing it as a massive financial risk.
Eventually, Wright and Braun said, “Alright, we will do it ourselves,” and they started Maxis, the idea for the name was simple, something with five to seven letters, that means nothing, that had either an x, z, or q, and would be memorable, the name was proposed by Braun’s father, and it stuck, Maxis.
Needing a little more of a push, they developed SkyChase, just to earn a little more money and maintain the ship afloat.
Finally, the time had come, Simcity was going multi-platform, it was make or break, if it failed the dream was over, if it succeeded…
SIMply Brilliant
Simcity was an absolute hit.
It showed people what games could do, it changed the perception and preconceptions many held towards the medium, it showed the potential this new and exciting medium had.
In no time, Maxis’ financial troubles were over, Simcity had become a sensation.
Will Wright, wanted to make something that was fun first, rather than being 100% accurate, taking liberties with the simulation aspect, the idea was not to replace books about Urban Planning, it was to help people build a mental model on how complex systems worked, getting them into the correct head space necessary for further reading. Something that is still being used as a fundamental for edutainment.
Will Wright never considered it a game, always referring to it as “Software Toy.”
It showed people what games could do, it changed the perception and preconceptions many held towards the medium, it showed the potential this new and exciting medium had.
In no time, Maxis’ financial troubles were over, Simcity had become a sensation.
Will Wright, wanted to make something that was fun first, rather than being 100% accurate, taking liberties with the simulation aspect, the idea was not to replace books about Urban Planning, it was to help people build a mental model on how complex systems worked, getting them into the correct head space necessary for further reading. Something that is still being used as a fundamental for edutainment.
Will Wright never considered it a game, always referring to it as “Software Toy.”
Simcity for Windows 3.x
There was praise from all over, Simcity was a perfect blend of approximations to real world systems, with fun and engaging mechanics, and it ended up attracting the attention, of not just gamers.
Many institutions saw the potential Simcity had for education, and in no time, Simcity was seen in the classrooms, being used to teach children the fundamentals of urban development, it was even seen in Universities.
But, not just education.
Most famously, in 1990, the mayoral candidates, in Providence, Rhode Island, US, were invited to play Simcity as a way to show people their ability with managing a city, it is allegedly believed that the result of this event is what determined the subsequent winner of the election. In 2002 a similar event was done with mayoral candidates in Warsaw, Poland, using Simcity 3000.
And, it also got the interest of companies, with Maxis being flooded by inquiries from a myriad of businesses, each wanting something like Simcity but to be used internally, mostly for personnel training.
Originally, Will Wright refused, but, due to the cheer volume of requests, he eventually relented, Maxis needed money.
And, a “serious games” division was made, the Business Simulation branch… Of which, only two games are available, SimRefinery (which was presumed lost, until someone uploaded a copy of it to The Internet Archive in 2020) made for the Chevron Corporation, and SimHealth made for the Markle Foundation, both not very profitable.
Many institutions saw the potential Simcity had for education, and in no time, Simcity was seen in the classrooms, being used to teach children the fundamentals of urban development, it was even seen in Universities.
But, not just education.
Most famously, in 1990, the mayoral candidates, in Providence, Rhode Island, US, were invited to play Simcity as a way to show people their ability with managing a city, it is allegedly believed that the result of this event is what determined the subsequent winner of the election. In 2002 a similar event was done with mayoral candidates in Warsaw, Poland, using Simcity 3000.
And, it also got the interest of companies, with Maxis being flooded by inquiries from a myriad of businesses, each wanting something like Simcity but to be used internally, mostly for personnel training.
Originally, Will Wright refused, but, due to the cheer volume of requests, he eventually relented, Maxis needed money.
And, a “serious games” division was made, the Business Simulation branch… Of which, only two games are available, SimRefinery (which was presumed lost, until someone uploaded a copy of it to The Internet Archive in 2020) made for the Chevron Corporation, and SimHealth made for the Markle Foundation, both not very profitable.
Because it wasn’t profitable, and, according to Will Wright, “most of the time was expend talking to corporations and negotiating that went nowhere, rather than actually working on something” (I am paraphrasing) the Business Simulation branch was let go, and it eventually became its own thing, Thinking Tools (another story I could cover, do comment if you are interested).
Allegedly, Maxis once received a call from the Secret Service, asking for help on getting SimHealth running on Chelsea Clinton’s computer.
And, SimHealth did get Maxis into controversy, mostly of the political kind, so the “serious games” were far much trouble than it was worth.
Regardless, Simcity’s success allowed Maxis to carry on, with some of the crazier ideas Will Wright was cooking.
And, oh boy did the man cook.
Allegedly, Maxis once received a call from the Secret Service, asking for help on getting SimHealth running on Chelsea Clinton’s computer.
And, SimHealth did get Maxis into controversy, mostly of the political kind, so the “serious games” were far much trouble than it was worth.
Regardless, Simcity’s success allowed Maxis to carry on, with some of the crazier ideas Will Wright was cooking.
And, oh boy did the man cook.
The Experimentation Era
Although, Maxis did make some games that weren’t Sims nor related to sims, those were quickly forgotten, with Maxis now becoming “the guys who made Simcity.”
Here are a few of those games:
Here are a few of those games:
Most of those non sims games, were pretty much inconsequential on their own, but they were slowly draining Maxis’ coffers, in the business, we call this foreshadowing.
Will Wright, was quite excited about trying the principles behind Simcity, to other topics, wanting to spark something similar as the interest Simcity gave to urban planning.
Most of these Sims didn’t receive the fanfare Simcity had received, most being treated as nothing more than a passing novelty or, “that’s cool, but it ain’t Simcity.”
Will Wright, was quite excited about trying the principles behind Simcity, to other topics, wanting to spark something similar as the interest Simcity gave to urban planning.
Most of these Sims didn’t receive the fanfare Simcity had received, most being treated as nothing more than a passing novelty or, “that’s cool, but it ain’t Simcity.”
I did not include the Sim games which were published by Maxis, only the ones that were developed by Maxis.
These games did gain some fans among educators, mostly because, they actually made learning fun, problem was, income for Maxis wasn’t doing all too well.
Although these games didn’t do much at the time of their release, as the years went on by, they have been given the title of cult classics.
Maxis even became a publisher for many games, some of which acquired the “Sim” prefix, and were referred to as software toys as well, but it still wasn’t good enough.
So, it was time to double dip, Maxis made Simcity 2000, in an attempt to keep the company afloat, it did the job quite nicely, but they weren’t out of the woods.
Although Simcity 2000 did well enough, its predecessor was lighting in a bottle, and its success couldn’t be replicated.
Still, that didn’t stop Maxis from trying both on the non-sims, and sims, even some little novelty projects like SimCopter and Streets of Simcity, both allowing the player to visit the cities they’d made in Simcity 2000.
Alas however, all these projects kept failing expectations, and Maxis had started to run on fumes.
Although these games didn’t do much at the time of their release, as the years went on by, they have been given the title of cult classics.
Maxis even became a publisher for many games, some of which acquired the “Sim” prefix, and were referred to as software toys as well, but it still wasn’t good enough.
So, it was time to double dip, Maxis made Simcity 2000, in an attempt to keep the company afloat, it did the job quite nicely, but they weren’t out of the woods.
Although Simcity 2000 did well enough, its predecessor was lighting in a bottle, and its success couldn’t be replicated.
Still, that didn’t stop Maxis from trying both on the non-sims, and sims, even some little novelty projects like SimCopter and Streets of Simcity, both allowing the player to visit the cities they’d made in Simcity 2000.
Alas however, all these projects kept failing expectations, and Maxis had started to run on fumes.
A Faustian Bargain
By the late 90s things weren’t looking good, and Maxis had become a public company.
Satan himself had seen the precarious position of Maxis, so he mobilized his minions at Electronic Arts, and they made an offer Maxis couldn’t refuse.
In 1997, EA had acquired Maxis.
Braun peaced out, with the money he had been given by the acquisition, and nearly half of the employees at Maxis, were shown the door by EA.
Thankfully, EA did not interfere with the development of Simcity 3000, which would become the final Simcity in which Will Wright worked, another moderate success.
What EA was interested, was another of Wright’s ideas, one which had been floating around Maxis for quite some time.
In 1991 Will Wright’s home had burned down, during the process of starting over, an idea came to him, an idea which he presented at the time, an idea no one wanted to do cause, “who would want to play with a digital dollhouse.”
This idea reached EA, and even thought they didn’t think it would be profitable, they saw the potential to make it so, so EA took the gamble.
If it failed Maxis was over, if it succeeded…
Satan himself had seen the precarious position of Maxis, so he mobilized his minions at Electronic Arts, and they made an offer Maxis couldn’t refuse.
In 1997, EA had acquired Maxis.
Braun peaced out, with the money he had been given by the acquisition, and nearly half of the employees at Maxis, were shown the door by EA.
Thankfully, EA did not interfere with the development of Simcity 3000, which would become the final Simcity in which Will Wright worked, another moderate success.
What EA was interested, was another of Wright’s ideas, one which had been floating around Maxis for quite some time.
In 1991 Will Wright’s home had burned down, during the process of starting over, an idea came to him, an idea which he presented at the time, an idea no one wanted to do cause, “who would want to play with a digital dollhouse.”
This idea reached EA, and even thought they didn’t think it would be profitable, they saw the potential to make it so, so EA took the gamble.
If it failed Maxis was over, if it succeeded…
And so, The Sims was born, and calling it a hit would be an understatement, it was a sensation.
Something Maxis haven’t seen since the original Simcity.
EA, saw its new cash cow, and so, it was time to develop expansions, and stuff packs, the cow is gonna get milked.
Later, Simcity 4 was released, which too would be a hit, giving EA ideas (of the nefarious kind), as to where to take the franchise next.
With the now successful release of The Sims, Will Wright decided to work on another project, one that would become quite divisive, Spore.
This time however, EA’s meddling became a problem, with them interfering with Wright’s vision for the game, as well as forcing certain things onto the game, most (in)famous, the DRM.
Spore took 3 years to develop, which at the time was considered too long.
The whole corporate meddling, was what eventually brought Will Wright to leave Maxis in 2009.
Now, the two ogs had left for good.
Something Maxis haven’t seen since the original Simcity.
EA, saw its new cash cow, and so, it was time to develop expansions, and stuff packs, the cow is gonna get milked.
Later, Simcity 4 was released, which too would be a hit, giving EA ideas (of the nefarious kind), as to where to take the franchise next.
With the now successful release of The Sims, Will Wright decided to work on another project, one that would become quite divisive, Spore.
This time however, EA’s meddling became a problem, with them interfering with Wright’s vision for the game, as well as forcing certain things onto the game, most (in)famous, the DRM.
Spore took 3 years to develop, which at the time was considered too long.
The whole corporate meddling, was what eventually brought Will Wright to leave Maxis in 2009.
Now, the two ogs had left for good.
The Murder of Maxis
With The Sims, and its sequels, expansions, and stuff packs, as a steady revenue source, EA decided to do some experimenting with Simcity.
And they thought, that it was about time for a reboot, the first Simcity had come out in the 80s after all.
While the people at Maxis were focused on graphical improvements for the new Simcity, EA wanted something more, they wanted the game to be always online, and this gave way to a disastrous result.
The Simcity reboot, had one the most disastrous releases in history, filled with bugs, barely functioning, and an always online requirement which barely worked with the poor servers given to the game.
This reboot, single handedly murdered the Simcity brand.
And, EA blamed Maxis, because of course they did.
With many employees fired, and studio locations closed, the future of Maxis was unsure.
With their overlords at EA now relegating them, to keep producing content for the cash cow, The Sims. Only a year later, The Sims 4 was released, and (to the time of this article) is still being milked with endless expansions and content packs.
And they thought, that it was about time for a reboot, the first Simcity had come out in the 80s after all.
While the people at Maxis were focused on graphical improvements for the new Simcity, EA wanted something more, they wanted the game to be always online, and this gave way to a disastrous result.
The Simcity reboot, had one the most disastrous releases in history, filled with bugs, barely functioning, and an always online requirement which barely worked with the poor servers given to the game.
This reboot, single handedly murdered the Simcity brand.
And, EA blamed Maxis, because of course they did.
With many employees fired, and studio locations closed, the future of Maxis was unsure.
With their overlords at EA now relegating them, to keep producing content for the cash cow, The Sims. Only a year later, The Sims 4 was released, and (to the time of this article) is still being milked with endless expansions and content packs.
A Sad End
With Maxis now a rotting corpse, puppeteered by EA for the purposes of brand recognition, and with Will Wright (as of 2021) working on games that make use of NFTs and Blockchain technology.
Everything that started all the way back in the 80s had come crashing down.
A Studio which once meant imagination and experimentation, now relegated to endless milking and rehashing.
A sad end, to a Studio which once was, at the top of the world.
Everything that started all the way back in the 80s had come crashing down.
A Studio which once meant imagination and experimentation, now relegated to endless milking and rehashing.
A sad end, to a Studio which once was, at the top of the world.
Thank you very much for reading this far, I do hope you enjoyed this read, even though, it did get quite depressing at the end.
But! Let’s not allow this to bring us down, feel free to share your experiences with Maxis games, EA may have taken a wonderful studio from us, but they can never take away our precious memories!
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