Editing Maxis (section)

=== Studio closures and layoffs (2014–2019) ===
In the wake of the ''SimCity'' launch, Maxis went through a series of layoffs and studio closures, which continued throughout the late 2010s.<ref name="Kuosmanen"/> This began with the 2014 restructure of [[EA Salt Lake]], dissolving the Maxis group that had been headquartered there.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=57473847&itype=CMSID|title=EA Salt Lake lays off part of staff|website=The Salt Lake Tribune}}</ref> A number of Maxis devs were migrated to the Redwood Shores studio.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2014/01/30/the-sims-dev-ea-salt-lake-focusing-on-mobile-following-layoffs|title=The Sims Dev EA Salt Lake Focusing on Mobile Following Layoffs |website=Ign.com|date=January 30, 2014 }}</ref> Maxis' principal studio in Emeryville was closed in 2015, leaving only the smaller Redwood Shores team and a newly opened mobile developer in Helsinki under the Maxis name.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/its-a-sim-ea-closes-simssimcity-developer-maxis|title=It's A Sim: EA Closes Sims/SimCity Developer Maxis|first=Alec|last=Meer|date=March 4, 2015|access-date=December 14, 2021|website=Rockpapershotgun.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://kotaku.com/ea-shuts-down-simcity-developer-maxis-1689454903 |title=EA Shuts Down SimCity Developer Maxis |author=Jason Schreier |author-link=Jason Schreier|publisher=Gawker Media |work=Kotaku |date=March 4, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505092445/http://kotaku.com/ea-shuts-down-simcity-developer-maxis-1689454903 |archive-date=May 5, 2015}}</ref>

In September 2015, EA announced that the consolidated Maxis team would work alongside the [[EA Mobile]] division under Samantha Ryan. EA indicated that the "collaboration" would still see most of Maxis' future products available for [[personal computers]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-sims-boss-lucy-bradshaw-leaves-ea-after-23-yea/1100-6430880/ |title=The Sims Boss Lucy Bradshaw Leaves EA After 23 Years |first=Eddie |last=Makuch |work=[[GameSpot]] |date=September 24, 2015 |access-date=September 25, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925194616/http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-sims-boss-lucy-bradshaw-leaves-ea-after-23-yea/1100-6430880/ |archive-date=September 25, 2015}}</ref><ref name="Maxis Organizational Update">{{Cite web |date=September 24, 2015 |title=Maxis Organizational Update |url=https://www.ea.com/news/maxis-organizational-update |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160502170201/http://www.ea.com/news/maxis-organizational-update |archive-date=May 2, 2016 |access-date=May 19, 2016 |website=Electronic Arts}}</ref> The group was then reorganised under EA Worldwide Studios in 2016, with the rest of Salt Lake shut down in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ea.com/news/an-organizational-update |title=Organizational Update |website=Electronic Arts |date=September 13, 2016 |access-date=September 14, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916150431/http://www.ea.com/news/an-organizational-update |archive-date=September 16, 2016}}</ref> Redwood Shores faced further layoffs in 2018, which included 15-20 Maxis staff.<ref name="pcgamesn.com">{{Cite web |title=Multiple Sims developers have been let go – PCGamesN |url=https://www.pcgamesn.com/the-sims-4/sims-developers-laid-off |access-date=September 20, 2021}}</ref> Development of ''[[The Sims Mobile]]'' was relocated away from the remaining Maxis developers in 2019, with [[Firemonkeys Studios|Firemonkeys]] taking over. This left continued support for ''The Sims 4'' as the sole Maxis-fronted project at EA.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ea.com/en-gb/games/the-sims/the-sims-4/news/tsm-moves-to-the-land-down-under|title=THE SIMS MOBILE MOVES TO THE LAND DOWN UNDER|website=Es.com|date=May 5, 2019 |access-date=December 14, 2021}}</ref>

The closure of Emeryville in particular—as Maxis' long-lived core location—was described by commentators as the end of Maxis as it had been known in the past, with only the brand name persisting.<ref name="kotaku.com">{{Cite web |date=March 4, 2015 |title=EA Shuts Down SimCity Developer Maxis |url=https://kotaku.com/ea-shuts-down-simcity-developer-maxis-1689454903 |access-date=2021-09-22 |website=Kotaku |language=en-us}}</ref><ref name="thegamer.com">{{Cite web |date=December 16, 2019 |title=10 Of The Saddest Game Developer Studio Closures Of The Decade |url=https://www.thegamer.com/saddest-video-game-developer-studio-closures-decade-2010s/ |access-date=December 14, 2021 |website=TheGamer.com}}</ref>