3 ms·

That's slightly revisionist history. EA bought Maxis when they weren't in great financial shape (it didn't help that basically every Friday was spent at the bar

That's slightly revisionist history. EA bought Maxis when they weren't in great financial shape (it didn't help that basically every Friday was spent at the bar). It's true that the Sims was a huge success that EA didn't anticipate (they repeatedly tried to kill the project), but the jury is still out if Maxis would have survived long enough to release it without EA's funding and support.

mmanfrin 14y ago
EA bought Maxis when they weren't in great financial shape I'm not familiar with the specifics, but if Maxis was in such dire straits, why did Wright become the largest shareholder of EA as a result of the takeover? And his partner became CEO for a while.
- ekianjo 14y ago
  > Wright become the largest shareholder of EA as a result of the takeover Sources?
  - pyre 14y ago
    From Wikipedia[1]: > The company's IPO took place in 1995. In 1997, after > setbacks on a series of secondary titles, Braun and > Wright sold Maxis to Electronic Arts for US$120 > million in stock. The deal made Braun the largest > shareholder in EA at the time. Not Wright, but a result of the purchase. Also from Wikipedia[2]: > Maxis went public in 1995 with revenue of US$38 million. > The stock reached $50 a share and then dropped as Maxis > posted a loss. EA bought Maxis in June 1997. and > It was a difficult idea to sell to EA, because > already 40% of Maxis's employees had been laid > off. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Braun http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Braun [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Wright_(game_designer) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Wright_(game_designer)
roc 14y ago
I wasn't remotely talking about money; about why Maxis sold, whether they had to or anything along those lines. You're projecting an argument I never made. I'm talking purely about the games and the people who make them. EA buys studios and squeezes them. Why the studios subjected themselves to it is irrelevant to the fact that it happened. Repeatedly. Pretty much non-stop since Trip walked out the door. EA's long-standing treatment of their employees and the properties they owned, in the pursuit of a release schedule that burned out both in short order, is not revisionist history. It is EA's history.

mmanfrin 14y ago

EA bought Maxis when they weren't in great financial shape I'm not familiar with the specifics, but if Maxis was in such dire straits, why did Wright become the largest shareholder of EA as a result of the takeover? And his partner became CEO for a while.

ekianjo 14y ago
> Wright become the largest shareholder of EA as a result of the takeover Sources?
- pyre 14y ago
  From Wikipedia[1]: > The company's IPO took place in 1995. In 1997, after > setbacks on a series of secondary titles, Braun and > Wright sold Maxis to Electronic Arts for US$120 > million in stock. The deal made Braun the largest > shareholder in EA at the time. Not Wright, but a result of the purchase. Also from Wikipedia[2]: > Maxis went public in 1995 with revenue of US$38 million. > The stock reached $50 a share and then dropped as Maxis > posted a loss. EA bought Maxis in June 1997. and > It was a difficult idea to sell to EA, because > already 40% of Maxis's employees had been laid > off. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Braun http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Braun [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Wright_(game_designer) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Wright_(game_designer)

roc 14y ago

I wasn't remotely talking about money; about why Maxis sold, whether they had to or anything along those lines. You're projecting an argument I never made. I'm talking purely about the games and the people who make them. EA buys studios and squeezes them. Why the studios subjected themselves to it is irrelevant to the fact that it happened. Repeatedly. Pretty much non-stop since Trip walked out the door. EA's long-standing treatment of their employees and the properties they owned, in the pursuit of a release schedule that burned out both in short order, is not revisionist history. It is EA's history.