Will Wright Leaves EA News

EA has announced that the linchpin of its Maxis studio and visionary game designer behind EA's The Sims and Spore franchises, Will Wright, has parted company with the publisher to start Stupid Fun Club.

Stupid Fun Club is described by EA as "an entertainment think tank developing new intellectual properties to be deployed across multiple fronts including video games, movies, television, the internet, and toys."

By the sounds of things, this marks a departure from traditional game design for Wright and propels him into a position where he can focus on spear-heading new ideas and concepts across a range of media.   

"The entertainment industry is moving rapidly into an era of revolutionary change," said Will Wright. "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. 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."

EA and Wright will own equal stakes in Stupid Fun Club and are the company's principal shareholders, while EA has the first right to develop game concepts that emanate from the new company.

"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," said John Riccitiello, EA's Chief Executive Officer. "Will is a great designer and he's been part of a great legacy of globally recognized game franchises like The Sims, SimCity and Spore. The teams that have been leading those franchises in recent years have a lot of exciting content coming."

Wright has stated in an interview with Gamespot that there are already several projects underway at Stupid Fun Club, although he noted that any announcements are a few months away at this stage.

"Will has been an inspiration to our teams, and it's been rewarding for us to bring his ideas to life," said Lucy Bradshaw, VP and General Manager at Maxis. "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."