Maxis Software Inc.
Overview
Maxis Software Inc. is a game development studio founded by
Will Wright and
Jeff Braun in 1987 in California (USA). The company is best known for its best-selling series of
Sim games. Coined with
SimCity in 1989, these games all use the Sim prefix and are mostly managerial strategy games, spanning all kinds of areas. The most successful segment is
The Sims franchise. The company also had two other divisions,
Maxis UK Ltd. and
Maxis South.
Prior to starting The Sims, the company was acquired by
Electronic Arts, Inc. in June 1997. The integration has gone slowly. The studio was officially closed in February 2004 and most of the jobs have been moved to EA Redwood City. Although the studio has been officially closed, the name Maxis still remains associated with The Sims games and most games are thus still credited as such. During the years, EA has been steadily removing Maxis from in-game text and credits, but the name is not completely discarded yet.
The original founder Will Wright is considered one of the industry's visionaries. He currently has a studio in Emeryville (known as Electronic Arts - Emeryville), California where he developed the
Spore franchise.
Trivia
Company addresses in 1989 (from in-game and manual of
SimCity: Terrain Editor):
Maxis
Two Theatre Square
Orinda, CA 94563-3346
USA
Maxis
1042 Country Club Drive, Suite C
Moraga, CA 94556
USA
Tel: (415) 376-6434
FAX: (415) 376-1823
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