Will Wright

From xSporeWiki

From http://www.gdconf.com/  :

Will Wright Chief Designer, Maxis

Will Wright, Maxis’ Chief Designer, co-founded Maxis in 1987. He began working on what would become SimCity—The City Simulatorin 1985. SimCitywas released in 1989, and has since won 24 domestic and international awards. Wright co-designed SimEarth—The Living Planetin 1990. In 1991, Wright co-designed SimAnt—The Electronic Ant Colony. SimCity 2000and SimCopter are also part of Wright’s recent repertoire. SimCity 3000 Unlimited the definitive version of 1999’s best-selling game SimCity 3000, continued in the tradition. The long-awaited 4th generation, SimCity 4, was released in January 2003. SimCity 4’sfirst expansion pack, SimCity 4 Rush Hour, and SimCity 4 Deluxe Editionwere shipped in September 2003.

Wright’s ground-breaking game The Sims, puts players in charge of the lives of a neighborhood of simulated people. Released in February of 2000, this wildly popular title has become a cultural phenomenon. The Simshas inspired six expansion packs. Livin’ Large, House Party, Vacation, Unleashed and Superstarallow players to put their simulated families into new extreme situations and settings. The final expansion pack, Makin’ Magic, was released in October 2003. Taking its bow in December 2002 was Wright’s much anticipated The Sims Online™, which was featured in a cover story in Newsweek Magazine. The next generation of The Sims PC products debuted in September 2004 with The Sims 2, which became the fastest selling PC game ever selling more than a million copies in the first ten days worldwide.

In 1999, Will was included in Entertainment Weekly’s“It List” of “the 100 most creative people in entertainment” as well as Time Digital’s “Digital 50”, a listing of “the most important people shaping technology today.” In 2002, he was #35 on Entertainment Weekly’sPower List.