Legendary Game Designer to Explore New Projects
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Apr 08, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) announced today that EA is making an
equity investment in Stupid Fun Club, Will Wright's new adventure.
Stupid Fun Club is an entertainment think tank developing new
Intellectual Properties to be deployed across multiple fronts including
video games, movies, television, the internet, and toys. Will Wright is
leaving EA to run Stupid Fun Club.
EA and Will each own equal percentages of Stupid Fun Club and are the
principal shareholders. In addition, EA has the right to develop game
concepts that spring from Stupid Fun Club projects. Will Wright is
represented by Creative Artists Agency.
"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."
"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."
"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."
Will Wright created Maxis with Jeff Braun in 1989, which was acquired by
EA in 1997. Will is the visionary designer of blockbuster game concepts
like Spore(TM), The Sims(TM) and SimCity(TM). Lucy Bradshaw,
VP and General Manager at Maxis(TM), will continue to run Maxis and the Spore
franchise. Lucy's team is working on the upcoming expansion pack, Spore
Galactic Adventures, as well asother game concepts including Spore
Hero,Spore Hero Arena and Spore Creature Keeper. Rod
Humble is head of the EA(TM) Play Label and his team will launch The
Sims 3 in June of this year.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is
the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded
in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive
software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular
handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under
four brand names: EA(TM), EA SPORTS(TM), EA SPORTS Freestyle(TM) and POGO(TM). In
fiscal 2008, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.67 billion and had 27
titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online
game site is www.ea.com.
More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can
be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.
Electronic Arts, EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Freestyle, POGO, The Sims,
SimCity, Spore and Maxis are trademarks or registered trademarks of
Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.
SOURCE: Electronic Arts Inc.
EA Corporate Communications
Holly Rockwood, 650-628-7323
hrockwood@ea.com
EA Games Label - Spore
Tammy Schachter, 650-628-7223
tschachter@ea.com
EA Play Label - the Sims
Trudy Muller, 650-628-2926
tmuller@ea.com
EA Investor Relations
Tricia Gugler, 650-628-7327
tgugler@ea.com
or
Stupid Fun Club
PR at Stupid Fun Club, 510-981-2206
pr@thestupidfunclub.com
Copyright Business Wire 2009