Maxis boss Lucy Bradshaw is leaving EA

The boss of whatever is left of Maxis, Lucy Bradshaw, is leaving EA after 23 years.

EA’s Maxis unit is being integrated into the company’s mobile division, although a number of Maxis projects including The Sims 4 will be overseen by new Maxis group boss Rachel Franklin, who was formerly general manager of The Sims Studio.

Maxis was shut down in March of this year following the disastrous launch of Sim City in 2013 and a mixed reception to The Sims 4 in July of last year.

Through 23 years with our company, Lucy has brought an incredible passion for games and our player community,” CEO Andrew Wilson said. I want to thank Lucy for her dedication to EA, her contributions to Maxis, and the creative spirit she infused in every one of her teams and projects. We wish her the best as she takes on her next adventure.

There is amazing work happening in our Maxis studios today. Rachel Franklin, who has been leading our Sims Studio, will now take over leadership of the Maxis group. Rachel will continue to lead the teams working on more new content and cultivating the passionate player community in The Sims 4, and now she will drive our efforts on other new Maxis concepts in development as well.

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. 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.”

Bradshaw added in a statement to Polygon: "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.

"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."

UPDATE: EA has contacted MCV to stress that Maxis as an entity was never closed down. "You say that ‘Maxis was shut down in March of this year’ – this wasn’t accurate then, isn’t accurate now," a spokesperson told us. "We closed our Emeryville Maxis location but the studio was never shut down. The Maxis team has been working on The Sims 4 as well as other projects."