Kotaku: Maxis

The Sims Team Definitely Got the Idea for This Video from Herman Cain's Tax Plan

Mike Fahey — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:20:00 EDT

While comparing Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain's "9-9-9" tax play to the default settings for a SimCity game was an amusing diversion, no one actually believes Mr. Cain borrowed his ideas from a video game. No one except the video game's creators, that is. More »

Action-RPG Darkspore Is or Was Coming to Xbox 360, PS3

Drew Cohen — Mon, 16 May 2011 18:00:00 EDT

In his resume, level-designer Jordan Patz claims to have "worked with Maxis to modify Darkspore for release on Xbox/PS3." Wasn't that just a PC game? The résumé has since been modified: it now links to a YouTube video of a flying cat. Very Suspicious. [joystiq] More »

Darkspore is now Building Better Battlers

Mike Fahey — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:20:00 EDT

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Maxis splices the DNA of Will Wright's Spore with Diablo with today's release of the PC action RPG Darkspore, now available in stores and fine downloadable retailers across North America. I can't wait to play. More »

This Guy Built A Real, Living, Breathing City

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 06:00:00 EDT

It's been, can you believe, eight years since the last true SimCity game was released. Yet time hasn't stopped people from doing amazing things with the venerable old PC game. More »

Grab The Darkspore Beta Through Steam Now

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 17:40:00 EDT

Steam makes it easy to get into the beta program for Maxis' Spore spin-off Darkspore. Just head to the Steam web site and install. Darkspore was recently delayed until the end of April. More »

Darkspore Delayed, Needs More Time To Evolve

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:50:00 EDT

Sci-fi RPG (and Spore spin-off) Darkspore is the latest release to get pushed back. Originally slated for end of March, EA's PC game is now due April 26 (North America) and April 28 (Europe/Asia). Darkspore devs say they need more time to incorporate user feedback from the beta. More »

This Is Why You Should Sign-Up For The Darkspore Beta

Mike Fahey — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 11:00:00 EST

In case our hands-on with Darkspore's action-packed single-player and competitive multiplayer battles weren't enough to whet your appetite for the game, perhaps the full beta trailer will do the trick. More »

Darkspore Splices Fresh DNA Into Online Multiplayer

Mike Fahey — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST

Spore is an amazing creative experience diluted by a broad gameplay focus. Darkspore has one focus: Building a better killing machine. I took my monster squad to task in story mode and player-versus-player combat and lived to tell the tale. More »

If Halo Doesn't Kill You, SimCity Will

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 02:30:00 EST

You've seen the effects of Halo on the human heart. Now see the effects of...SimCity (via). More »

A Look at Darkspore's Competitive Arena Matches

Brian Crecente — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 17:00:00 EST

Kotaku got an early look at upcoming PC action role-playing game Darkspore's cooperative multiplayer a couple of weeks back, but this latest video we get a look at the player-versus-player action. More »

A Look At Darkspore's Cooperative Multiplayer

Brian Crecente — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 20:00:00 EST

Electronic Arts is giving us an advanced look at how cooperative play is going to work in upcoming action role-playing game Darkspore. More »

The Sweet, Neat Loot of Darkspore

Brian Crecente — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:30:00 EST

I've called Darkspore a sort of Diablo-meets-Spore-in-space game. This developer diary gives you a better look at why I felt that way when I played it. More »

The Darker, More Dramatic Side Of Spore

Mike Fahey — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:00:00 EDT

Here's the reveal trailer for Darkspore, the intense, fast-paced action role-playing game set in the colorful, friendly Spore universe. More »

First Look At Darkspore, EA's New Sci-fi, Spore-based RPG

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:20:00 EDT

The creators of Spore are going to the dark side with an all-new "fast-paced and intense" sci-fi action-role-playing game known as Darkspore, coming to the Mac and PC next year. More »

The Disappearance Of SimCity

Sam Shahrani — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EDT

What ever happened to the once-mighty SimCity franchise? More »

Join Us For a Chat with Developers From The Sims on Kotaku Talk Radio Now

Brian Crecente — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:00:00 EST

Join us live today on CBS Radio for our latest episode of Kotaku Talk Radio with two special guests from Electronic Arts' Sims team. More »

EA Finds a Home for Spore Movie Project

Owen Good — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:40:00 EDT

Electronic Arts and Twentieth Century Fox have reached a deal to produce a movie based on Spore, with the director of the animated film "Ice Age" assigned to the project, Variety reports. More »

Maxis Layoffs Include Outspoken Spore Dev Chris Hecker

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:40:00 EDT

Electronic Arts' recent attempt to "focus" Spore developer Maxis—which was a nicer way of saying some people got laid off—includes one of its more rant-ready folks, Chris Hecker, a Technology Fellow at the company. Remember him? More »

Maxis Hit With Job Cuts, EA Confirms

Stephen Totilo — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:00:45 EDT

Word from Electronic Arts today is that Maxis, the studio behind The Sims and Spore, suffered layoffs today. No word on how many people were affected. EA described the cuts as an attempt to "focus" the studio. More »

Actually, The Sims 3 Was The Biggest-Selling Game In June

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:30:00 EDT

While there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth over the poor performance of June's console games, on PC, things were looking a little healthier, with EA's The Sims 3 emerging as the month's biggest-selling game on any platform. More »

Your Comments Fuel Gay Gaming Conference

AJ Glasser — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:40:00 EDT

Physically, you may not have been at EA Redwood Shores this weekend. But if you commented on to Justin Cole's op-ed column to Kotaku, you were there in spirit. More »

Pirated Copies Of Sims 3 Are A "Demo Program"

Luke Plunkett — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:30:00 EDT

Prior to the retail release of The Sims 3, the game leaked onto popular torrent sites. Hundreds of thousands of people then illegally downloaded the game. Which you'd think would make publishers EA really cranky. More »

The Sims 3 Review: Delayed Gratification

AJ Glasser — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EDT

After a more than three month delay—and more than four years on from the release of The Sims 2—The Sims 3 is finally here. So let's get down to reviewing it. More »

When Robot Chicken And Spore Collide

Mike Fahey — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:20:00 EDT

Witness the Robot Chicken creative team using the Spore Galactic Adventures editor to create their own fanciful tales of poo-flinging. More »

Robot Chicken Invades Spore Galactic Adventures

Mike Fahey — Tue, 19 May 2009 09:40:00 EDT

The secret behind the mysterious Spore WTF website is revealed, as Maxis announces day one downloadable content for the Spore Galactic Adventures expansion from the deranged minds behind Robot Chicken. More »

30 Rock Offers Parenting Tips From The Sims

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:30:00 EDT

30 Rock is a fantastic television show. But 30 Rock's Liz Lemon is a developmentally stunted mess of a person, in some respects. Take, for example, her knowledge of child-rearing, as learned from The Sims. More »

Maybe One Day Everyone's Spore Creatures Will Look This Good

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 07 May 2009 05:30:00 EDT

Maxis senior art director Ocean Quigley has shown us the future. A future where Spore creations are not bulbous, simple game characters, but realistic-looking creatures. More »

Robot Chicken + Spore = New Series About Giant Robots [Update]

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 07 May 2009 04:30:00 EDT

EA Maxis and the creators of Robot Chicken are teasing a new joint venture in this clip, showing that the comedy boys are using Spore to design...something. More »

Spore: Galactic Adventures Trailer

Luke Plunkett — Mon, 04 May 2009 04:30:00 EDT

While we're appreciative of the new weapons, how different can "protecting the oracle" and "defending the priest" really be? More »

There Are Now Over 100,000,000 Spore Creatures

Luke Plunkett — Sat, 02 May 2009 00:30:00 EDT

Earlier this week, EA's life creator Spore passed a hefty milestone, with the game's Sporepedia registering its one hundred millionth creation. More »

The Sims 3 Screenshots

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:40:00 EDT

You should be keeping tabs on The Sims 3, if only because it'll be cluttering up the PC sales charts for the next five years once it's released this June. More »

Spore Creator Wants to Make Toys Fun Again

Brian Crecente — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:40:57 EDT

Will Wright, the man who launched a million sims, is broadening his horizons. More »

Oh, Captain, My Captain - New Spore Screens

AJ Glasser — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 03:00:00 EDT

Spore: Galactic Adventures is introducing a lot of new stuff – planet editor, new segment of space exploration, etc. – but a nifty new thing we haven't seen a lot is the effects tool. More »

Preview: Spore Galactic Adventures – The Cake Is a Portal

AJ Glasser — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 21:20:00 EDT

Spore's first expansion pack focuses almost entirely on the space exploration segment of the game, adding a layer of adventure gaming to spice space up. More »

Oh Captain My Spore Space Captain

Mike Fahey — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:20:00 EDT

What does it take for your creature to become a space captain in Spore: Galactic Adventures? A dynamic trailer with dramatic voice overs, that's what. More »

This Valentine's Day, Say It With Sims

AJ Glasser — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 19:40:00 EST

It wouldn't be Valentine's Day without half a dozen games celebrating the number two Hallmark holiday of the year. The Sims 3 jumps on the bandwagon with two new screens of sweet, sweet love. More »

The Sims 3 Lets You Tap Into Your Inner Undead

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:20:50 EST

Fire up the Ministry, because every day will be Halloween in The Sims 3. Electronic Arts and Maxis are reaching out to the "black ocean" market with new vampire looks for the upcoming life simulation. More »

Spore Galactic Adventures: Behind the Scenes

Brian Crecente — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:00:00 EST

Spore was an interesting experiment, one that didn't totally live up to the absurdly high expectations, but that I still enjoyed. More »

Spore Honcho: We Toats Pwn LBP for User Content

Owen Good — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 12:00:00 EST

It was recently suggested to Maxis producer Morgan Roarty that LittleBigPlanet has horned in, maybe even stolen the user-created content crown away from Spore. Pish-tosh, said Roarty. More »

Three Things That Stand Out About the Spore Expansion

AJ Glasser — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:00:00 EST

EA announced a bunch of new stuff at last night's semi-swank reveal event – but the main draw was Galactic Adventures, the first real Spore expansion. More »