Type Division Website www.thesims.com Successor Maxis (integrated into) Parent organizations Electronic Arts, Maxis | Owner Electronic Arts Founded 2006 Predecessor Maxis Headquarters Redwood City, Utah | |
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Industry Computer and video games
Interactive entertainment Products The Sims series (2006–present) | ||
The Sims Studio is a division of Maxis, a subsidiary label of Electronic Arts. Its primary location is situated at the Electronic Arts’ Redwood City campus, where other EA studios, such as Visceral Games, are located. In addition to the Redwood City site, the team has also consisted of individuals from EA Black Box within EA Canada. There is also a secondary studio, located at Salt Lake City. Upon inception, The Sims Studio took over production and expansion of the popular game franchise The Sims from Maxis; before eventually being reintegrated with the Maxis label in time for production of The Sims 3: University Life, and later The Sims 4.
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History
After many years of successful titles in The Sims franchise, in 2006 Electronic Arts transferred all development responsibilities from the original developer, Maxis, to their newly created division initially named The Sims Division, later changed to the current name. Rod Humble was selected to lead this new team as the studio head. Maxis refocused their attention on their next project: Spore. Scott Evans is the current General Manager of the Studio. Lucy Bradshaw was the General Manager, then Senior Vice President of EA Maxis until 2015.
Particularly, Will Wright and Maxis were not involved in the development of The Sims 3, although many developers of former Maxis products remained involved in its production. This third generation of the main series was developed entirely by The Sims Studio. In 2012, EA announced an organizational restructuring that features Maxis as one of their four primary labels, effectively replacing the former EA Play label. As part of this initiative, The Sims Studio became a part of the EA Maxis label (Redwood Shores studios). Thus, the Maxis branding is now once again present on releases starting with The Sims 3: University Life, developed by the Salt Lake City studios, and SimCity, developed by the Emeryville studios.
The Sims Studio, now integrated back into the Maxis subsidiary of EA, and released The Sims 4 in September 2014.
Games developed
Below is a list of games that The Sims Studio has developed. Items with an asterisk (*) indicate that they are known to be currently working on that project.