Will Wright

William Ralph Wright, Jr. (Atlanta, Georgia, January 20, 1960) is an American video game designer and co-founder of the company Maxis, later owned by Electronic Arts (EA). He is mostly known as the original designer of three well-known video games: SimCity , Spore and The Sims , one of the best-selling PC video games in the whole story.

Biography

Will Wright was born in Atlanta, Georgia. His parents were Bill Wright Sr. and Beverlye Wright Edwards. He was educated at the local school 'Montessori School'. He admitted being inspired by certain experiences and elements at school to create SimCity. When he was 9 years old, his father died of leukemia. He completed his secondary education at Episcopal High School, university studies at the University of Louisiana and at the Technological Institute of the same state.

Career

Will Wright managed to be the first to think that video games are scenarios where the sims they must earn or lose their money, their home; for example, it happens in SimCity 4, where those who play must control the situation of their sims and the distribution of buildings. The concept of their video games is that they can be used by anyone.

It is worth highlighting The Sims, the best-selling PC game in history, and its sequel The Sims 2, which used to occupy the lists of best-selling games in the main video game consuming countries.

One of his latest creations is Spore, where we are allowed to manage the beings of a civilization from the single-celled beginning of it, the expansion towards the earth, the tribal era of our civilization, construction of the first cities, the development technological and, finally, the conquest of other worlds in other solar systems when we have been able to go through the other stages successfully.

In April 2009 Wright left Maxis to dedicate himself to a new adventure: Stupid Fun Club, an ideas factory company that will explore new forms of entertainment for the approaching future: video games, television series, online chats, etc..

Prizes

Wright received the lifetime achievement award at the first edition of the Game Developers Choice Awards, where his game The Sims was awarded game of the year in 2001. In 2002, became the fifth person inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame. In 2007, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awarded him an award for his creative work, recognizing the enormous impact of video games on popular culture and his enormous contribution to the entire art form of the moving image. This award has been reserved for film and television notables, such as Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin, and Steven Spielberg, but this time it is the first time it has been awarded to a video game designer.

He has been considered one of the most important people in the video game, technology and entertainment industry by publications such as Entertainment Weekly, Time, PC Gamer,Discover and GameSpy. Wright was also awarded the PC Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award in January 2005.

Created Games

• Raid on Bungeling Bay (1984)
• SimCity (1989)
• SimEarth (1990)
• SimAnt (1991)
• SimLife (1992)
• SimCity 2000 (1993)
• SimFarm (1993)
• SimCopter (1996)
• SimCity 3000 (1999)
• The Sims (2000)
• SimGolf (2002)
• The Sims Online (2002)
• The Sims 2 (2004)
• Spore (2008)
• The Sims 3 (2009) Participated in the early development phase and then left the company