EA kills off Maxis studio

Over the years EA has killed off several developers, the most well-known being Bullfrog and Westwood. Now the game publisher is officially driving the nails through Maxis' coffin as it's closing the Maxis Emeryville headquarters. Work on Maxis projects at other studios will continue but the Sims team will reportedly see some layoffs. The Maxis brand will live on but the company formerly known as Maxis is gone forever.

Today we are consolidating Maxis IP development to our studios in Redwood Shores, Salt Lake City, Helsinki and Melbourne locations as we close our Emeryville location. Maxis continues to support and develop new experiences for current Sims and SimCity players, while expanding our franchises to new platforms and developing new cross-platform IP.

These changes do not impact our plans for The Sims. Players will continue to see rich new experiences in The Sims 4, with our first expansion pack coming soon along with a full slate of additional updates and content in the pipeline.

All employees impacted by the changes today will be given opportunities to explore other positions within the Maxis studios and throughout EA. For those that are leaving the company, we are working to ensure the best possible transition with separation packages and career assistance.