Will Wright

**Will Wright** (born January 20, 1960 in Georgia, USA) is the creator of both the ***SimCity*** series **and** *The Sims* series **and one of the founders of** *Maxis*.

## Creation of SimCity and Maxis

In 1984, Will Wright developed *Raid on Bungeling Bay*. During development, Wright realized that he had much more fun creating the various game levels than he did playing the game itself. He would later apply this concept to the creation of a city simulation game called *SimCity*.

Wright had a difficult time finding video game publishers willing to take a chance on *SimCity*, since it was a major departure from other video games developed up to that time. In 1987, Wright and Jeff Braun co-founded Maxis and were able to publish *SimCity*. Wright was instrumental in the development of two sequels, *SimCity 2000* (1994) and *SimCity 3000* (1999), both developed through Maxis.

## Creation of The Sims

It is said that Wright devised the basic idea of *The Sims* after a fire destroyed his home, and he had to recreate everything in his life from his house to valuables. Maxis was resistant to the idea of *The Sims* and ultimately refused to develop it. However, in 1997, Maxis was acquired by Electronic Arts, who were ultimately more receptive to Wright's ideas. Despite this, *The Sims* was still considered a gamble, and only a limited number of copies were initially produced. *The Sims* went on to defy expectations, becoming one of the most popular video games of all time.

Will Wright was not directly involved in the development of *The Sims 2* or later games in the series, though he is still given special credit for its initial creation.

## Recent activities

After *The Sims*, Will Wright began developing *Spore*, an evolution-based strategy game, which was released in 2008.

In April 2009, Wright left Electronic Arts to start up "Stupid Fun Club," an EA-backed think tank. Wright was succeeded in his position by Lucy Bradshaw, Maxis' General Manager, who now leads the *Sims* and *Spore* franchises.

In 2010, Wright began producing a community-based television show called *Bar Karma*, which aired for one season in 2011.

In October 2011, Wright joined the board of directors for Linden Lab, the creators of *Second Life* .

## References and allusions in the games

* Pleasantview, Sunset Valley and Downtown in *The Sims: Hot Date* each have a street named Wright Way.
* There is a dollhouse named after him in *The Sims* and *The Sims 2*.
* Skins based on Will Wright, Luc Barthelet and Sid Meier were offered by EBWorld as a buying incentive when the original The Sims came out. Full sets for Raven and the Avatar from Ultima IX, a female racer from Need for Speed and Kane from Command & Conquer series were also included, as well as an EBWorld outfit for males and an EA Sports outfit for females.
* In *The Sims: Vacation*, there is a carnival game that is similar to a whack-a-mole game, substituting moles for his head instead.
* In *The Sims: Makin' Magic*, Will Wright is a huge giant seen when climbing the beanstalk. Sims can only use the *View* interaction on him. When he is interacted with, a pop-up message will display: *Thanks for playing The Sims.* His appearance is based on the same model as the EBWorld version.
* In *The Sims Online*, a likeness of Will Wright is among the many selectable skins for character creation. Those skins are based on the set distributed by EBWorld, with additional tan and dark skin tones not previously seen.
* In *The Sims 2*, one of the decorations which can be placed in a neighborhood view is a giant rock shaped like his head. This rock is pre-placed in Strangetown neighborhood view.

## Games

* *Raid on Bungeling Bay* - 1984
* *SimCity* - 1989
* *SimCity 2000* - 1993
* *SimCity 3000* - 1999
* *SimCity 4* - 2003
* *SimEarth* - 1990
* *SimLife* - 1992
* *SimCopter* - 1996
* *SimAnt* - 1991
* *The Sims* - 2000
* *The Sims Online* - 2002
* *The Sims 2* - 2004
* *The Sims 2* expansions and patches - 2005 to 2008
* *Spore* - 2008

## External links

* Will Wright at Twitter
* Will Wright at MobyGames
* Will Wright ar RAWG.io