Lucy Bradshaw, the senior vice president of The Sims developer Maxis, is leaving EA, the company announced yesterday.
Her departure comes as part of a major reshuffle for the studio, which will see it realigned with EA’s mobile division under executive Samantha Ryan. The Sims 4’s executive producer Rachel Franklin will take over leadership of Maxis following Bradshaw’s exit.
The realignment doesn’t mean that Maxis will be moving away from PC development, however, an EA rep said in an update to Polygon.
“Across The Sims 4 on PC and The Sims FreePlay and SimCity BuildIt on mobile, Maxis IP has never had a bigger and more engaged player base,” EA CEO Andrew Wilson said. “As we look to the future, we want to expand the scope of opportunity for Maxis to reach more players on PC and mobile, as well as explore cross-platform play. To enable this, we are bringing Maxis together with our mobile teams under Samantha Ryan’s leadership, aligning our strong PC foundation with our mobile expertise. The collaboration between these teams will help us unlock new ways for Maxis IP to connect with players wherever they want to play.”
Bradshaw joined Maxis in 1997, overseeing development on The Sims, SimCity and Spore. Prior to her position at EA she worked at LucasArts and Activision. She has yet to say where she is headed next.
Questions over Maxis’ future, however, were raised earlier this year when EA closed the developer’s main Emeryville studio. At the time, EA said that it would be “consolidating” development of Maxis’ IPs at other EA studios.
“I’ve had a wonderful journey at EA and Maxis, filled with amazingly creative people, unforgettable experiences and an inspiring community of players and creators,” Bradshaw added in a statement to Polygon. “I have the highest regard for EA’s leadership today, their vision and their focus on putting players first. I leave knowing that Maxis is in great hands with a leader and teams who are full of respect for our players, passion for our games, and new ideas to bring to the world of Maxis gamers. I look forward to seeing what’s next from these incredible teams, I’ll certainly be playing.”
Source: ea.com, polygon.com
