Home Gaming Maxis developers leave EA to form indie simulation studio

Maxis developers leave EA to form indie simulation studio

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The lead developers of SimCity, SimCity 4, Spore and The Sims 2 have run away screaming from EA in order to form their own studio – Jellygrade.  Their first game will be on iPad and will be about the dawn of life.

This three-man development studio has already gotten to work building their game.  Here are some concept images.

As explained via twitter

We’re making a simulation about the dawn of life on earth; about lava, water, rock and the emergence of the first primordial creatures.

Obviously, their game is not about the correct use of a semicolon.  It could be interesting to see what Ocean Quigley, Dan Moskowitz and Andrew Willmott pull together.  I’m more interested in the trend of AAA game developers moving toward indie game design while the successful indie developers are getting picked up by mainstream development houses and publishers.  

Last Updated: July 18, 2013

46 Comments

  1. TiMsTeR1033

    July 18, 2013 at 07:54

    look forward to seeing what they come up with. They really should make a new spore! and not dark spore! like the 1st one

    Reply

  2. Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

    July 18, 2013 at 08:00

    I enjoy sim games like this so I’m interested

    Reply

    • Brady miaau

      July 18, 2013 at 08:45

      I used to enjoy them a lot, years ago. Now? not so sure.

      Zoo Tycoon, Rollercoaster and so forth. Enough. SimCity 2000. Played and played and played.

      Remember a very old game called Detroit? You had to start a car company in the very start of the car industry and research and market the cars over the years. If your profit was not good enough, bye, if car quality not good enough, not enough future sales, if car quality too good, not enough profit. Loads to manage in a friendly and engaging way.

      Man, now I must look for it!

      Reply

      • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

        July 18, 2013 at 09:14

        Best ever was Theme Hospital. No competition

        Reply

        • Brady miaau

          July 18, 2013 at 09:18

          never even heard of it!

          So, Hospital Administration then? Can be fun, I suppose. But today they would want to make the game “dramatic” instead of a sim.

          Sim games are like TV Series. Greys Anatomy, Season 1. Sort of watchable. S2 and S3 – then Soap Opera, big dram events required to keep interest or something. Just keep it simple and clever, Big Bang Theory, or Two and Half Men before the melt down. Have a formula, stick to it well. Have fun, buy Sim.

          Reply

    • Admiral Chief Groot Wors

      July 18, 2013 at 08:57

      I have a certain SIM you might be interested in, MINT condition, never opened, just a little dusty…

      Reply

      • John Ambitious

        July 18, 2013 at 09:01

        I assume it sounds a lot better than it is

        Reply

      • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

        July 18, 2013 at 09:03

        Not THE SIMS Mr Katey Perry lover 😛

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief Groot Wors

          July 18, 2013 at 09:12

          Not buying it, you said you enjoy sim games, and they are sims correct?

          I STAND BY MY PROOF. Llew loves SIMS

          Reply

          • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

            July 18, 2013 at 09:13

            I enjoy sim games LIKE THIS. (see above article). Not the same thing 😛

          • Admiral Chief Groot Wors

            July 18, 2013 at 09:16

            Keep digging that hole buddy

          • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

            July 18, 2013 at 09:39

            Row row row your boat

      • Unavengedavo

        July 18, 2013 at 09:14

        Playboy Mansion?

        Reply

  3. Trevor Davies

    July 18, 2013 at 08:06

    It’s the circle of life

    Reply

  4. Umar Kiiroi Senk?

    July 18, 2013 at 08:09

    A comma and a F**king dot; semi-colon!

    Reply

    • RinceWind

      July 18, 2013 at 08:36

      yes, but what does it mean!? Using the damn thing isn’t hard; I swear even a Cod player has used it, once…

      Reply

      • John Ambitious

        July 18, 2013 at 09:03

        That’s pushing it man

        Reply

        • RinceWind

          July 18, 2013 at 09:05

          Very good point 😉

          Reply

    • HvR

      July 18, 2013 at 09:09

      like a boss on a boat

      Reply

  5. Wyzak

    July 18, 2013 at 08:23

    Jumping ship before the inevitable bullet in the back of the head.

    Reply

  6. ElimiNathan

    July 18, 2013 at 08:24

    Interesting…..

    Reply

  7. Admiral Chief Groot Wors

    July 18, 2013 at 08:28

    Oatmeal ftw

    Reply

  8. RinceWind

    July 18, 2013 at 08:34

    So dawn of life. You mean 4000 years ago right? trololo

    Reply

    • Brady miaau

      July 18, 2013 at 08:42

      4004 bc, 9am on a Thursday

      Reply

      • RinceWind

        July 18, 2013 at 08:54

        Ah! My bad!

        Reply

    • John Ambitious

      July 18, 2013 at 09:04

      I prefer a Dawn of War actually
      40 000 years into the future

      Reply

      • Brady miaau

        July 18, 2013 at 09:12

        Yeah. But 1 not 2

        Reply

        • John Ambitious

          July 18, 2013 at 09:19

          Quite. Though 2 is fun when playing co-op online

          Reply

          • Brady miaau

            July 18, 2013 at 09:29

            never played online! but SP and overall game play just not as fun as 1

          • John Ambitious

            July 18, 2013 at 09:42

            I agree. Nothing beats the strategy behind the first one

    • Trevor Davies

      July 18, 2013 at 10:02

      I remember that movie. Year One, with Jack Black.

      Reply

      • RinceWind

        July 18, 2013 at 10:08

        That was a documentary!

        Reply

  9. Ultimo_Cleric N7

    July 18, 2013 at 08:53

    Why did it take them so long to leave EA?

    Reply

  10. blitzmat

    July 18, 2013 at 11:18

    This sounds like a remake of the old Sim Earth game 🙂

    Reply

  11. Crash0Lux

    July 18, 2013 at 12:17

    Um, I dont think that makes them indie. I actually think this whole trend of AAA devs moving towards “indie” is killing the chances for real indie developers and destorting the definition of indie games and peoples perception of what an indie studio can do. These guys aren’t indie, they have contacts in the industry to get their stuff published much easier, not to mention all the contacts they have in game marketing and the technical and artistic fields. Lastly they’ve also have years of building up funds as well as a reputation (which distorts people’s perception even more).

    Reply

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