EA should be ashamed at adding SimCity studio Maxis to list of studios it's closed

MWEB GameZone writes: "EA is closing down Maxis, the studio that's held the reins on the long-running SimCity franchise and also done work on The Sims and Spore.

Here is why we think they should be ashamed."

[SonZeRo]

It's what EA does.

[nX]

There's a lot of things EA should be ashamed of, this is actually one of the minor things. I still can't believe how they get away with charging full price for their annual sports franchises. Or how they recently ruined a lot of good franchises. Not to even mention Day1-DLC, Online Passes, terrible mobile games or early server shut-downs.

[3-4-5]

Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare + Madden 15 + Fifa 15 = All really good games EA should be proud of.

* Everything else needs a bit of work.

[TheSaint]

EA should be ashamed period.

[lord zaid]

indeed. They haven't exactly covered themselves in glory over the years

[MyDietEqualsGames]

Hard to be ashamed when you wear shades made entirely of cash, finely crafted, in thanks to gamers as well as the hard work and sweat of the developers.

[HanCilliers]

So 10 studios closed by EA since 2001. I wonder how many people in total lost their jobs? How many lives ruined?

[Activemessiah]

Studios should by now think twice before joining EA... lessons to be learned here.

[HanCilliers]

Sad but true

[jmc8888]

But you see that's the thing..it's not the workers in the studios who decide, it's the owners/shareholders.... and they generally care about the millions or billions being offered, not what happens to anyone or anything after they make the deal.

[Activemessiah]

@jmc8888 Oh I agree, the sole reason to get in bed with them is the huge sum of money they flash at the indie studio who are foolish enough to think they are immune from being shut down.

[Antifan]

I could only guess for the reasons why.
Cutting up content, limiting their games to Origin, DRM etc.
I won't even wish upon my worst enemies to be pimped-out by EA.

[BellePelouse]

Let's hope they sell the SimCity franchise to some people with love for the serie

[Ark_]

"Cities: Skyline" looks promising.

http://www.citiesskylines.c...

[BellePelouse]

Indeed it does, been looking at it for a while!

[pumpkin9300]

It is sad

[pumpkin9300]

Original Sims was the tits!

[tanukisuit]

Agreed. I've spent more time with #1 than 2, 3 and 4 combined.

[Kevlar009]

I remember when we replaced our old Gateway 2000 and upgraded to whatever had XP it came with The Sims. Never really tried to play the normal game from start to unofficial finish, but it was fun to use the cheat for free money and create awesome houses.

[MrSwankSinatra]

BioWare is next

[Ark_]

Yeah, their games getting worse imo. Not sure who's to blame.

[GreetingsfromCanada]

What's the point of buying studios, destroying their games with content cut from the game and then shutting them down because no one bought the new dlc filled garbage?

[gantarat]

Maxis (SimCity)
Purchased by EA in 1997; shut down in 2015.

Mythic (Dark Age of Camelot)
Purchased by EA in 2006; shut down in 2014.

Bullfrog (Syndicate, Dungeon Keeper)
Purchased by EA in 1995; shut down in 2001.

Origin (Ultima, Wing Commander)
Purchased by EA in 1992; shut down in 2004.

Westwood (Command & Conquer)
Purchased by EA in 1998; shut down in 2003.

DreamWorks Interactive/Danger Close/EA Los Angeles
Purchased by EA in 2000; shut down in 2013.

Phenomic (SpellForce, BattleForge)
Purchased by EA in 2006; shut down in 2013.

Black Box Games (Need for Speed, Skate)
Purchased by EA in 2002; shut down in 2013.

Pandemic (The Saboteur)
Purchased by EA in 2008; shut down in 2009.

PlayFish (The Sims Social)
Purchased by EA in 2009; shut down in 2013.

NuFX (NBA Street)
Purchased by EA in 2004; shut down in 2007.

[tanukisuit]

OH GOD, don't even remind me about Westwood Studios. I'm STILL FUMING!!!

[The_KELRaTH]

Yeah for me that was the NO1 biggest mistake!

(followed by Origin and Bullfrog)!

So pleased Chris Roberts has been successful opting for crowdfunding

[Double_O_Revan]

Closing Pandemic hurt to

[Hoffmann]

And that are not even all companies they bought and split the developer teams to assist their big sports games teams.

R.I.P The Outlaw Golf Developers

[akiraburn]

Bullfrog, Origin, and Westwood were all incredible studios that really helped form some of golden years for PC gaming. Somewhere around here I still have old PC Gamer demo discs with preview trailers for Syndicate Wars and a lot of these studios' other titles, as well as my original copies of The Privateer, Wing Commander 3, several Ultima titles, and of course Command & Conquer: Red Alert.

Pandemic's closure was the most recent serious disappointment for me. Although I wasn't a huge fan of The Saboteur, I do believe they really had a great hit with the Mercenaries titles. Despite the many bugs left in the game, Mercenaries 2 provided some of the most fun I had last generation. I spent a lot of time playing co-op on there.

Looking at this list, you have to wonder what might have happened if EA had never entered the picture and didn't buy out their studios. Whether or not they would still be around and making the same style/quality of games is anyone's guess. However, in retrospect it sure does seem like they would have had a better chance of surviving independently, or perhaps by forming a small publishing group of their own.

[Clogmaster]

Without a proper sequel to SimAnt.