From Firaxis to Maxis: Civ IV designer leaves to work on Spore
by Ross Miller 
{ Apr 18th 2007 at 9:25PM }
The news originally surfaced earlier today on Civilization site Apolyton and was later confirmed by Electronic Arts, according to GameSpot. The decision requires Johnson to move from Maryland to California.
There is no indication as to why Johnson left Firaxis or in what facet he is helping with Spore this late in the game's development cycle. (The title, having been in development since 2000, is scheduled for release by the end of this year.) Of course, there's the obvious possibility he'll be helping out with the civilization phase of the game. Johnson's personal blog has not been updated since this year's Game Developers Conference. As Gamasutra notes, Johnson had been working on an original IP for Firaxis; its fate is currently unknown.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
JustinS @ Apr 18th 2007 10:26PM
He's leaving now to work on Spore? Shouldn't Spore almost be finished?
matias @ Apr 18th 2007 10:41PM
Wow Spore is going to be even better! Civ 4 is one of the better games of the past few years.
Joe Smith @ Apr 19th 2007 11:49AM
SPORE = the most over-hyped game never to ship.
Joe Smith @ Apr 19th 2007 11:49AM
SPORE = the most over-hyped game never to ship.
Joe Smith @ Apr 19th 2007 11:50AM
sorry about the double post -- I think my mouse is double-clicking by itself.
Michael May @ Apr 19th 2007 12:25PM
I hope he goes back to Firaxis after... Civ 4 rocked