The authors of SimCity have opened a new studio

Three former Maxis employees founded the mobile game development studio Jellygrade. The plans are to create a game about the emergence of life on Earth.

Jellygrade is headed by SimCity Creative Director Ocean Quigly. Together with him, the team included: Maxis lead programmer Andrew Willmott and SimCity chief game designer Dan Moskowitz. 

Ocean said on his Twitter that work on the studio’s first project has already begun. It will be dedicated to the emergence of life on our planet.

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

— Ocean Quigley (@oceanquigley) July 16, 2013Judging by the first sketches, the project at this stage is something like a Doodle God with real physics and objects (and not a set of conditional cards). 

We, in turn, are tormented by the question: why did the guys leave EA? Was this decision related to the far from calm situation in the American company, where layoffs have been taking place for several months?

And did they have to leave?

For reference, the last part of SimCity is one of the best projects in the history of the series. And certainly the most revolutionary, which for the first time significantly went beyond the concept of SimCity 2000, which appeared on the PC back in 1994.

The problem is that not all players reacted favorably to the initiatives of the developers. Particular dissatisfaction was caused by the need for a permanent connection to the network. Despite the fact that it was due to design decisions, not mercantile ones, as, for example, in the case of Diablo III, the players did not forgive EA, which owns Maxis. Probably, the dampness of the Origin online store, through which EA distributes its digital products, has also become a negative factor in terms of perception. 

Be that as it may, this did not prevent SimCity from selling 1.6 million copies.

Source: pocketgamer.biz