Maxis, the minds behind the successful series “The Sims”, are looking for a Senior Designer for a new project. The job posting reads as if something in the direction of F2P-MMO is in the works.
For years, Maxis has only been about The Sims, those babbling virtual beings who have trouble understanding simple concepts like “Don’t go into the swimming pool when you’re dead tired” and exhibit an astonishing urge to urinate. Now a job advertisement is causing a cheerful flame play in the rumor kitchen.
They are looking for a new Senior Designer for an as yet unannounced project.
The ideal candidate should preferably have precise knowledge of a “Social Multiplayer” game, with an MMO explicitly mentioned as an example of such a game. Knowledge about character development, crafting and research trees, leveling in RPG style, and loot progression should be present. Furthermore, they should be familiar with monetization, ideally with specific expertise on how to extract money from a free-to-play game without aggravating the players. The desired Senior Designer should be knowledgeable about Maxis games such as Sim City, The Sims, and Spore, as well as Minecraft and its most popular mods.
My MMO states: Inferring assumptions about the finished game from such job postings is only a whisker beyond tea leaves or bird flight speculation. However, just the prospect of a crossover between Minecraft, a F2P-MMO, and The Sims – as conjured by Lazygamer.net – would surely bring joy to many Sims fans. But maybe it will just be “only” a Facebook casual game and not a Triple-A F2P giant. One shouldn’t raise hopes too high.
