Maxis Emeryville, the studio behind Spore and the 2013 SimCity reboot, has been shutdown.

SimCity was the very first computer game I ever played on a Mac, back in 1989. I thought the 2013 reboot was great. Yes there were and still are controversial issues with SimCity, most notably, initially always having to be online when playing, not having a single player mode when launched, and small maps. The first two issues were resolved in a patch but the small maps continues to be a bone of contention with scores of players.

Sadly Electronic Arts, Inc.  have a history of closing great studios. Buy them up, chew them up, and spit them out. I’m only hypothesising here but I can’t help but think that Maxis Emeryville were probably hampered at every turn by suits in big offices who didn’t have the first clue about game development and what gamers actually want.

Good luck to all those who have just lost their jobs, I’m sure you’ll find employers who really value your talent and inspire you to do even greater things 😀