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.

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.

  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.

> Wright become the largest shareholder of EA as a result of the takeover

Sources?

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

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Wright_(game_designer)

I remember when The Sims was first announced, where Maxis was saying "And most of the game isn't even done yet. We've got loads of new stuff we'll release for free online!" which turned into dozens of boxed expansion packs.

Yuck.

Really? Wow, what a bunch of jerks. I am surprised that anyone even wants to buy a game from them after something like that.

Yet they do keep buying, year after year. They want the polish of AAA EA titles as compared to indie fare, and they're willing to bend over to get it.

Its the whole consumer versus content producer battle in a microcosm, and it doesn't make consumers look good. It's easy to get away with being a shitty company like EA when people line up to get "Madden" versus some non-branded sports game.

I would like to have seen SimMars (and SimCastle).

http://www.shacknews.com/article/60839/new-images-of-maxis-c...

I shed a tear for Westwood studios.

Westwood was failing and wasn't going to survive on it's own. It's a sad fact but EA bought them up in order to save the franchises and the jobs of many developers.

"A Tear?" I'm still in mourning.

That cartoon is about Bobby Kotick of Activision.

Yes and EA is openly following the same playbook and has been less-openly following it for years. One could argue Activision took it from EA.