Will Wright Leaves EA

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Will Wright Leaves EA


Electronic Arts [http://www.ea.com] has announced that Maxis mastermind Will Wright has left the company to run an "entertainment think tank" called Stupid Fun Club.

Stupid Fun Club [http://www.thestupidfunclub.com/home.html] will develop new intellectual properties "to be deployed across multiple fronts including video games, movies, television, the internet, and toys," according to a statement released by EA. Electronic Arts and Wright will be the principal shareholders in the new company, with each holding equal percentages, and EA will have the rights to develop games based on Stupid Fun Club projects.

"The entertainment industry is moving rapidly into an era of revolutionary change. Stupid Fun Club will explore new possibilities that are emerging from this sublime chaos and create new forms of entertainment on a variety of platforms," Wright said in the announcement of his latest project. "In my twelve years at EA, I've had the pleasure to work alongside some of the brightest and most talented game developers in the industry and I look forward to working with them again in the near future."

"We believe in Will's vision for Stupid Fun Club and we're looking forward to partnering with Will and his team long into the future," added EA CEO John Riccitiello. "Will is a great designer and he's been part of a great legacy of globally recognized game franchises like Spore [http://thesims.ea.com/]. The teams that have been leading those franchises in recent years have a lot of exciting content coming."

Wright's first game was the Commodore 64 title hit [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Bungeling_Bay] for EA.

"Will has been an inspiration to our teams, and it's been rewarding for us to bring his ideas to life," said Maxis Vice President and General Manager Lucy Bradshaw. "In addition to legendary games, Will's legacy at EA will be the many talented people who worked with him and will now continue to contribute their own vision to the art of game development."



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Random Argument Man

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May 21, 2008
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The situation as I see it in role play.

Will: I'm leaving dude
EA: Are we still cool?
Will: Sure dog.
EA; Where are ya going?
Will: Gonna make my own place.
EA: Mind If come and play with your things, eat your food and drink your beer
Will: Sure, take my girlfriend while your at it. Peace dog.
 

SlayerGhede

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Jan 13, 2008
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Random argument man said:
The situation as I see it in role play.

Will: I'm leaving dude
EA: Are we still cool?
Will: Sure dog.
EA; Where are ya going?
Will: Gonna make my own place.
EA: Mind If come and play with your things, eat your food and drink your beer
Will: Sure, take my girlfriend while your at it. Peace dog.
Thats some kinky roleplay.

This is pretty interesting. I wonder if this was to escape some policy or development method mandatory at EA. Maybe it's just to escape the risk of poorly selling games costing him his job. After all, he owns the place and EA gets to choose what it publishes. He can afford to take greater risks.
 

MarsProbe

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Dec 13, 2008
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Hmm, so just so I understand, Will Wright is leaving EA in order to form a "think tank" which EA will still have a sizeable stake in? The think tank will then come up with all the cool ideas, which EA will then adapt into (hopefully for them) obscenely profitable ventures. That way, everyones happy. Almost.

Sounds like a very beneficial relationship, that does.
 

GonzoGamer

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Apr 9, 2008
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So he's leaving EA to go work with Stupid Fun Club (brought to you by EA)?

So whos lawyers had to figure this out?
 

Shycte

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Didn't see this coming.

Do anyone know if he has the rights to The Sims or does EA?
 

Nova Tendril

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Shycte said:
Didn't see this coming.

Do anyone know if he has the rights to The Sims or does EA?
I doubt it matters who has the rights. It sounds like EA and "Super Fun Club" will still be working together most of the time.

So instead of being a finger of EA Will Wright is now more like a parasite.
 

Jack and Calumon

Digimon are cool.
Dec 29, 2008
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Stupid...Fun...Club?

The genius behind Sim-City and The Sims comes up with a name like that? What's next? Will Hideo Kojima come up with a new studio called "Totally hot butter"?
 

black lincon

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Aug 21, 2008
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In all fairness he's one of the few people in the game's industry who I would trust to "explore new possibilities that are emerging from this sublime chaos and create new forms of entertainment on a variety of platforms".

Also a little edit to your story Mal, Wrights first game was Vavatron [http://retro.ign.com/articles/968/968266p1.html?rss].
 

ChocoFace

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Nov 19, 2008
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So, how exactly will this be different from working directly under EA?

Stupid Fun Club, however, is the worst name ever.