Soren Johnson Leaves Firaxis Games

[DanQ]

On April 2nd, the Co-Lead Designer on Civilization III and Lead Designer on Civilization IV began a new chapter in his gaming career. After nearly seven years at game developer Firaxis Games in Maryland, Soren Johnson has returned to the West Coast and (re-)joined California-based game developer/publisher Electronic Arts. He previously interned there as part of the programming team for sports titles Knockout Kings 2000 and 2001 for the PlayStation console.

Since 1994, Johnson has been immersed in the study of computer programming and design; his interest in the field began a student at Stanford University where he earned an AB in History with honors and a MS in Computer Science with a focus on Human-Computer Interaction. It was while at Stanford that he was an EA intern. Now, Johnson is working on the development of the cross-platform Spore title in what Maxis designer Will Wright has referred to as a Massively Single-Player (MMSP) game. It is anticipated to be released later this year.

Firaxis previously worked with EA prior to Johnson's arrival: Alpha Centauri and its Alien Crossfire expansion both released in 1999. Spore is anticipated to be released later this year.

[notyoueither]

I wish him the best of luck.

Soren was a very good influence on Civ during his time.

Keep on Civ'in, Soren.

[Jaybe]

Whine ... sob! I wish him well, but I also hope he sufficiently passed his knowledge of the code to other programmers at Firaxis.

[Jon Miller]

I think that Firaxis is a lot more open about the code than it was in the days of Brian.

Jon Miller

[Harovan]

Bad news for Civ.

Good news for Spore.

If MMSP means Massively Single-Player, what does the second M stand for?

[Jon Miller]

Think WoW but where there is no BG or Raids/Dungeons.

Jon Miller

[MarkG]

bad news for civ. i hope we hear from firaxis on who's going to be the lead designer of civ5 (yeah ok, it's not announced yet)...

awsome news for spore! i already planned to install windows for BTS in the summer, now spore has an added value. all i need is to find the time to play

congrats Soren!!

[Kuciwalker]

Wow. This is terrible news for civ

Congrats to Soren for getting to work on what looks like a fascinating game though

[MarkG]

dont forget! you read it first on Apolyton!

[Harovan]

So will we get a Spore forum when it's released? I believe we owe that to Soren. And I propose DrSpike as moderator.

[Harovan]

Originally posted by MarkG
bad news for civ. i hope we hear from firaxis on who's going to be the lead designer of civ5 (yeah ok, it's not announced yet)...

Alexman!

Let's sign a petition. They have no choice but to listen to The People.

[DrSpike]

Well I wish him luck, but leaving Civ for Spore? I mean, come on.

[MarkG]

Originally posted by Sir Ralph
Alexman!

Let's sign a petition. They have no choice but to listen to The People.

sssssh! dont reveal the secret plan to put a Creek in charge of civ!!

[DrSpike]

I don't understand how a stream can be in charge of a game.

[Addled Platypus]

good thing this news was not around april 1


sad for civ

great for Soren

many many thanks



good luck

[Harovan]

By the way I saw Soren lurking yesterday. Not as "Soren Johnson FIRAXIS" anymore, but just as "Soren Johnson". I didn't know yet that is means he left Firaxis.

But since he continues to lurk Apolyton even though he doesn't have professional interest in Civ anymore makes me hope, that it may be he's seeing this site as platform for a potential Spore community.

[DrSpike]

I refuse to take your obvious bait.

[Locutus]

I've been so busy I haven't even commented on this yet, shame on me. Anyway, this is a great loss for Firaxis and the Civ community (though fortunately thanks to Soren's efforts there's a couple of successors waiting in the wings), a great gain for Will Wright's team at EA and a unique opportunity for Soren

Few people can say they've learned from the best but I count myself among them as I've learned a lot from testing and working on Civ4 under Soren's lead But Soren is in the unique situation that he can soon say he's learned from arguably the two greatest PC game designers in history (yes, I know most people here hate Will Wright because of the Sims but that's not how the industry or I feel about him). Lucky bastard

Congratulations, Soren, and best of luck! I know we can expect great things from you in the years to come, good to know Spore is one of them

Don't forget to check in here from time to time though, and thanks for all the fish!

[Locutus]

Originally posted by Sir Ralph
By the way I saw Soren lurking yesterday. Not as "Soren Johnson FIRAXIS" anymore, but just as "Soren Johnson". I didn't know yet that is means he left Firaxis.

But since he continues to lurk Apolyton even though he doesn't have professional interest in Civ anymore makes me hope, that it may be he's seeing this site as platform for a potential Spore community.

Well, we did break this story exclusively (you'll note there's no external source quoted in the news item as there always is for non-internal Apolyton news), that took some back-and-forth by PM. And I'm sure Soren will want to read our reactions now that this is public. But Soren came to Apolyton before he came to Firaxis, so I hope he'll keep checking in here from time to time -- although I understand enough of the gaming industry and its grueling schedules to understand that this is not likely

[Asmodean]

Spikes will frown, of course, but I wholeheartedly support the motion for Spore to be covered by Apolyton.

It can in many ways be considered within the scope of this site (well if RoN was, then Spore sure as hell is) and as someone else said, it would be a great Tribute to Soren.

Asmodean

[DrSpike]

:frown:

[Harovan]

Originally posted by Locutus
And I'm sure Soren will want to read our reactions now that this is public.

If that is so, let me add my good wishes for Soren. May the new title you're working for become as much of a success as Civ4 was and still is.

But Soren came to Apolyton before he came to Firaxis, so I hope he'll keep checking in here from time to time -- although I understand enough of the gaming industry and its grueling schedules to understand that this is not likely

Well, well... if there were an active Spore community in this forum (and there for sure is potential), his further visits might be even more likely. Apolyton needs new ways (hint, hint ).

[Adagio]

Originally posted by Asmodean
Spikes will frown, of course, but I wholeheartedly support the motion for Spore to be covered by Apolyton.

DrSpike would love this

[Harovan]

Oh and to Firaxis: Move your rear ends and hire Blake! Lump him together with Alexman and I'm sure Civ5 will be great!

[DaveV]

From what I've read here and elsewhere, it sounds like Soren deserves a lot of the credit for Civ4 being the great game that it is. Thanks, Soren, and good luck in the future.

Here's hoping Firaxis can live up to the standard set by Civ4.

[Metaliturtle]

Wow, and to think I got to tinker around on his computer for a while when Trip smoked him at Apolycon 06. He's a great guy with a wicked machine.

As to SPORE, I've been following that game's development since 2005, it looked awesome then, with Soren I'm sure there will be all kinds of nifty additions.

I agree with others that there should be a SPORE section on this site, both for Soren, and so I can stop posting in non-Apolyton forums.

[Solver]

Soren's contributions to Civ are amazing. And he is, of course, the main person to thank for Civ4 being the great game it turned out to be. Soren is a great designer, and, on a personal note, the time I spent testing Civ4 under his guidance was a great learning experience - and great fun, too. Thankfully, Civ4 and the Civ series is now in some very capable hands.

I haven't really followed Spore's development because, frankly, it seems downright boring to me, but with Soren on it, I will at least now follow the development process. Who knows, maybe I'll even play it.

Good luck Soren

[DanQ]

Originally posted by MarkG
dont forget! you read it first on Apolyton!

I didn't put an "Apolyton exclusive" label on this because I figured it was obvious. In all seriousness, I'll let others label this an Apolyton exclusive.

[DanQ]

Now, I'll comment on this story myself.

I was saddened to learn that Soren had left Firaxis, but I wish him very well at EA. It was a pleasure to have worked with him over these past 7 years and to have met him at ApolyCon '06 last summer (autograph included ).

As others have already said, Soren: hope you'll be willing and able to drop by and visit us now and again.

[Nikolai]

Soory to see that Soren has left "us". I wish him all luck in his new job though.

And who knows, perhaps Apolyton get some exclusives on Spore?:drool: