Will Wright

Developer BIO

Will Wright is one of the greatest game designers of all time. Despite the tragic death of his father when he was young, he managed to motivate himself to make great games. His first game, Raid on Bungeling Bay, published by Brøderbund for the Commodore 64, was a helicopter action game. He also worked on an unreleased game called Probots for the Commodore, which he would like to remake if he could find a copy of it (he lost all of them). Raid on Bungeling Bay gave him the idea for SimCity, when he was having more fun building the levels than flying around in them. This led him and Jeff Braun to found Maxis, one of the most successful development studios in the history of gaming.

At Maxis, a wide range of Sim games were created, and as a designer Wright was responsible for such games as SimEarth (1990), SimAnt (1991) and SimCopter (1996). Most of his games offer an environment as an open-ended toy box to the players, rather than forcing them to pursue linear goals.

Although many games were released, the SimCity series and most notably SimCity 2000 remained the most successful games. He was not involved with all Maxis games however.

He took the success even further with the release of The Sims in 2000, where players could manage everyday life and customize every aspect. With a sequel and many expansion packs and spin-offs, it became the most successful and profitable franchise in the history of gaming. Wright was much less involved with the sequel and not with the third game as well.

Following the cooperation with Electronic Arts since the release of The Sims in 2000, Maxis was eventually acquired and the franchise was given its own Sims division at the company. The next project where he was responsible for the vision and lead design was Spore, covering evolution from organisms to races that can colonize space. As with his all his games, players have complete freedom to create and customize the experience.

On 8th April 2009 it was announced Wright left Electronic Arts. He founded the entertainment think tank Stupid Fun Club and EA made an equity investment of 50% in the company, along with the right to develop game concepts that spring from Stupid Fun Club projects.

Will Wright is one of the few prominent game designers that is considered a visionary. He has been given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards in 2002 and was inducted in the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame. In 2007 he was also the first game designer to be awarded fellowship by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

Websites

• Biography of Will Wright -- Featured on ActiveGaming.net and written by Eric Hysen on April 28, 2004
• Wikipedia: Will Wright -- article in the open encyclopedia
• Will Wright: Such Wonderful Toys -- A game designer profile of Wright at Apple Games, discussing his history in the industry and his approach to making games (Aug, 2008).
• A Chat with Will Wright -- April 2002
• Will Wright Fansite -- Unofficial Will Wright fansite

Games Credited

Brütal Legend (2009), Electronic Arts, Inc.
Cities XL (2009), Monte Cristo Multimedia
The Sims 3 (2009), Electronic Arts, Inc.
Spore: Galactic Adventures (2009), Electronic Arts, Inc.
SimCity Creator (2008), Electronic Arts, Inc.
The Sims: Castaway Stories (2008), Electronic Arts, Inc.
Spore (2008), Electronic Arts, Inc.
Spore Creature Creator (2008), Electronic Arts Russia
Spore Creatures (2008), Electronic Arts, Inc.
PeaceMaker (2007), ImpactGames
The Simpsons Game (2007), Electronic Arts, Inc.
The Sims 2: Castaway (2007), Electronic Arts, Inc.
The Sims: Life Stories (2007), Electronic Arts, Inc.
Re-Mission (2006), HopeLab
The Sims 2: Open for Business (2006), Electronic Arts, Inc.
The Sims 2: Pets (2006), Electronic Arts, Inc.
The Sims 2: Pets (2006), Electronic Arts, Inc.
The Sims 2: Pets (2006), Electronic Arts, Inc.
Psychonauts (2005), Majesco Entertainment Company
The Sims 2: Nightlife (2005), Electronic Arts, Inc.
The Sims 2 (2005), Electronic Arts, Inc., Maxis Software Inc.
The Sims 2 (2005), Electronic Arts, Inc.
The Sims 2 (2005), Electronic Arts, Inc.
The Sims: Mega Deluxe (2004), Electronic Arts, Inc.
The Urbz: Sims in the City (2004), Electronic Arts, Inc.
The Urbz: Sims in the City (2004), Electronic Arts, Inc.
SimCity 4 (2003), Electronic Arts, Inc.
The Sims: Bustin' Out (2003), Electronic Arts, Inc.
The Sims: Bustin' Out (2003), Electronic Arts, Inc.
The Sims: Makin' Magic (2003), Electronic Arts, Inc.
The Sims: Superstar (2003), Electronic Arts, Inc.
The Sims (Deluxe Edition) (2002), Electronic Arts, Inc.
The Sims: Online (2002), Electronic Arts, Inc.
The Sims: Unleashed (2002), Electronic Arts, Inc.
SimCity 3000 Unlimited (2000), Electronic Arts, Inc.
The Sims (2000), Electronic Arts, Inc.
Seaman (1999), VIVARIUM
SimCity 3000 (1999), Electronic Arts, Inc.
Marble Drop (1997), Maxis Software Inc.
Full Tilt! Pinball (1996), Maxis Software Inc.
SimCity 2000 Network Edition (1996), Maxis Software Inc.
SimCopter (1996), Electronic Arts, Inc.
SimIsle: Missions in the Rainforest (1995), Maxis Software Inc.
SimTower: The Vertical Empire (1995), Maxis Software Inc.
SimTown (1995), Maxis Software Inc.
SimCity 2000 Urban Renewal Kit (1994), Maxis Software Inc.
SimCity Classic (1994), Maxis Software Inc.
Empire Deluxe Scenarios (1993), New World Computing, Inc.
SimCity 2000 (1993), Maxis UK Ltd.
SimCity Enhanced CD-ROM (1993), Interplay Productions Ltd.
A-Train (1992), Ocean Software Ltd., Maxis Software Inc.
A-Train Construction Set (1992), Ocean Software Ltd., Maxis Software Inc.
SimLife (1992), Maxis Software Inc.
RoboSport (1991), Maxis Software Inc.
SimAnt: The Electronic Ant Colony (1991), Maxis Software Inc.
SimCity Graphics Set 1: Ancient Cities (1990), Infogrames Europe SA
SimEarth: The Living Planet (1990), Ocean Software Ltd.
SimCity (1989), Brøderbund Software, Inc.
SimCity: Terrain Editor (1989), Infogrames Europe SA
Raid on Bungeling Bay (1984), Brøderbund Software, Inc.