Maxis Essay

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Maxis Software was founded in 1987 by Will Wright and Jeff Braun in order to publish SimCity on home computers because SimCity didn't have a publisher for the PC or Mac due to developers doubting that the game could be a success (Keighley, n.d.). In 1989, Wright and Braun made an agreement with Broderbund to co-publish SimCity, but the game did not take off until after a couple months and because of the word-of-mouth praise, which included a full-page article by Time magazine (Keighley, n.d.). SimCity was a massive success, but Maxis struggled to release another hit game as they tried various other Sim- titles which included: SimAnt, SimFarm, SimEarth, SimLife, SimTower, SimIsle and SimHealth (IGN, n.d.). Wright did not originally want to design …show more content…

The company then struggled to create new games and did not have a good year for sales and ideas in 1996, but in 1997, Electronic Arts decided to acquire Maxis as they wanted to improve their standings in the PC game market (Keighley, n.d.). EA then appointed Luc Barthelet to lead the restructuring of Maxis and the first six months saw a total reorganization at Maxis, with the entire top-level management and most of the sales and marketing team exiting the company, including company president Sam Poole. At this point, Will Wright was still with Maxis and started to move forward with his idea Dollhouse which morphed into The Sims (Keighley, n.d.). Once The Sims were released in 2000, its success assisted in revitalizing Maxis and inspired them to continue creating expansion packs and sequels (Electronic Arts, …show more content…

The Sims contributed to videogames as millions of players beginning to play even though it really was just “occupying themselves with the mundane tasks of running a digital minion’s life—from kitting out a new pad to managing bathroom breaks” (Fitzpatrick et.al, 2016). Even though meeting the needs of Sims is an important part of gameplay, and the only real objective, the process through which needs are met and how the Sims live their lives are left completely up to the player. The game was truly built with customization in mind as shown through house building options, room furnishing abilities, and the personalization of characters. The idea of being a more inclusive and customizable game was reflected in the Create-a-Sim feature which allowed players to create Sims and families with up to eight total members. Individuals playing The Sims could customize a Sim's skin color, their age, their gender, their personality, and change the Sim's basic head and body (EA, ). These customizations allowed for a unique gaming experience that was not offered as extensively in other games compared to The Sims when it was

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