EA Maxis
 Current EA Maxis logo since 2012
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Formerly called
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Maxis Software Maxis |
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| Genre | Simulation |
| Founded | 1987 (as Maxis Software) |
| Founders | |
| Headquarters | Redwood Shores, California, United States |
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Key people
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| Parent |
Electronic Arts (1997–2015) |
| Divisions | The Sims Studio |
| Website | http://www.maxis.com/ |
EA Maxis is a subsidiary of Electronic Arts (EA), serving as one of its four major video game development labels. The company was founded in 1987 as Maxis Software, an American independent video game development company, and later became known as Maxis.
Most Maxis titles are simulation-based. Maxis founder Will Wright likens them to "digital dollhouses". Maxis has also released games developed by other production houses, such as A-Train (1992, for Artdink) and SimTower (1994 for OPeNBook Co., Ltd.).
Maxis is the creator of one of the best-selling computer games of all time, The Sims (2000), its first major sequel The Sims 2 (2004), and the majority of their later expansions. After much restructuring of The Sims series development after The Sims 2, which saw development relegated to the new The Sims Studio (which later became absorbed into Maxis), the company released The Sims 4 in September 2014.
Maxis' Emeryville studio was closed in March 2015, moving development of Maxis titles to other EA studio locations. Employees of the Emeryville studio were "given opportunities to explore" other positions within Maxis and other EA studios. In an organisational restructure later in September, the now consolidated Maxis team was moved to function alongside EA Mobile.
Maxis was founded in 1987 by Will Wright and Jeff Braun to help publish SimCity on home computers. Before then, the game was only available on a limited basis on the Commodore 64 due to few publishers showing any interest in porting it. The reason for this is because SimCity wasn't a traditional game that had definite "win" and "lose" conditions. The title went on to become, statistically, one of the most popular and successful video games of all time. The SimCity series has spawned multiple sequels and spin-offs. Following the broad success of SimCity 2000, Maxis moved from Orinda, California, to Walnut Creek in 1994.
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