Soren on EA & Take-Two

[Locutus]

Free-lance video game writer Julian Murdoch posted an article on gaming network 1UP about the New EA, in which he illustrates how gaming publisher Electronic Arts under the lead of its new(ish) CEO John Riccitiello is trying to reinvent itself and protect innovation within the company by giving its developers a high degree of independence. The article also compares EA to Take-Two, the publisher of the Civilization games that EA is currently trying to take over.

As part of his story, Murdoch talked to Soren Johnson, lead designer of Civ3 and Civ4, about his move from Take-Two's Firaxis to EA's Spore team last year and how he views the New EA:

I knew coming in that EA was thinking hard about how to generate new IP and new ideas. They didn't see the current model as being sustainable, and I was pretty excited about that. [...] It's kind of ironic, because I came to EA, but I think having a spirit of independence is definitely important.

Soren also comments on the buy-out of his former studio Firaxis by Take-Two in late 2005: [Take-Two] saw us as 'the Civilization studio' as opposed to a studio that just had a high level of expertise in strategy, and was answering questions of what 'strategy' means for the industry. He added how stifling this was: You're never quite the same when you get taken over.

All in all Johnson is still skeptical whether EA's new approach will be successful, saying that plans are a lot easier to make than to implement: Because innovation is hard.

You can read the full two-page article on 1UP and comment about it in our forums.

I thought Soren's comments were very interesting. His comment that T2 saw/sees Firaxis as the Civilization studio ring very true to me: other than Railroads (which was already well underway when T2 bought them) Firaxis hasn't been working on anything other than Civ titles since the take-over, and of course T2 has used the name for a number of other projects as well, projects that one could easily qualify as dubious at best (CivCity: Rome, War of Two Cities -- really?) Soren was working on a super secret 'new IP' project around that time but that seemed to have died an early death.

It sounds like he wasn't too happy under the new T2-owned Firaxis, which must have played a big part in his decision to leave for EA...

[Krill]

nm

[Maniac]

I wonder what Soren would think if EA ever suggested he became the lead design for a SMAC2, considering he says in this article being branded as a Civilization studio is stiffling.