EA shuts down Maxis headquarters in Emeryville, home of SimCity and Spore

It's the end of an era for Maxis, creators of the SimCity, The Sims and Spore franchises. Today Electronic Arts announced the closure of the Maxis headquarters in Emeryville, the location where 2013's SimCity reboot and Spore were created -- among other projects. Electronic Arts has stated that all Emeryville employees will be given, "opportunities to explore other positions," across EA. In other words, some if not many Maxis developers will likely be jobless after today.

This isn't the first major transition that Maxis has gone through as a part of Electronic Arts. In 2004, seven years after the publisher's acquisition of the studio, the company's original home base in Walnut Creek. Maxis then took on the development of Spore in Emeryville with the continued leadership of Wil Wright. However, after Spore was released in 2008, Wil would then leave the company in 2009. SimCity is the largest project from Emeryville since, which should clarify the state of the studio leading up to its closure today.

Here's the full statement on Maxis Emeryville's closure, as provided by Electronic Arts:

"Today we are consolidating Maxis IP development to our studios in Redwood Shores, Salt Lake City, Helsinki and Melbourne locations as we close our Emeryville location. Maxis continues to support and develop new experiences for current Sims and SimCity players, while expanding our franchises to new platforms and developing new cross-platform IP.

These changes do not impact our plans for The Sims. Players will continue to see rich new experiences in The Sims 4, with our first expansion pack coming soon along with a full slate of additional updates and content in the pipeline.

All employees impacted by the changes today will be given opportunities to explore other positions within the Maxis studios and throughout EA. For those that are leaving the company, we are working to ensure the best possible transition with separation packages and career assistance."

As EA says, "new experiences" for both The Sims and SimCity will continue to be developed across Maxis' other locations and throughout EA. This studio closure simply marks another end of another era for a company much different than the one acquired in 1997. 

Neoseeker would like to give our best wishes to all Maxis Emeryville employees effected by the studio closure. Hopefully each person's transition out of the location proves smooth and rewarding.