14 DAY TRIAL // Although Maxis is currently hard at work, hammering away at the next installment in The Sims series, the studio also seems to have something else brewing, as pointed out by a new career opportunity ad revealing that the company is currently looking for a senior designer.
The company states that it is searching for a Senior Designer to design many critical systems for a new Maxis product, unannounced yet, to be created at EA's Redwood Shores, California Studio.
The position will be in charge of creating innovative game systems pertaining to the new, emerging IP, including mechanics, player goals and drivers, editors, gameplay progression, multiplayer gameplay mechanics, in-game economies, tech trees, mobile companion app integration, and pretty much everything else game-related.
In addition to the duties of the designer, the ad also states the requirements of the job, listing over 5 years of experience in the games industry, working on AAA titles, as mandatory.
But things get even more interesting, as the pretty detailed prerequisites offer a glance into what the upcoming product might be. The ad reveals that the product will be one of a unique nature, that requires "prior experience in deeply social multiplayer games such as MMOs," and RPG-style leveling design and mathematical loot progression modeling.
Furthermore, the ad also notes that the designer must be able to integrate free-to-play mechanics with monetization practices in simple and respectful ways, so that players "feel [it] adds a great deal of value for their money."
The designer should also have a great understanding of Maxis' creativity and their simulation games, including SimCity, The Sims and Spore, as well as be versed in other games in the creative space, including LittleBigPlanet, Minecraft, Disney Infinity, Project Spark, and others.
The description of the job position is an uncharacteristically detailed presentation of the company's unannounced game, offering a lot of information on what it might be. For now, it looks like we should expect Maxis to make an announcement for a free-to-play massively multiplayer online game that mixes the company's well-known simulation elements with some role-playing game mechanics and creativity-driven ones, similar to the ones found in Minecraft or Project Spark.
So far, the wording regarding platforms is a little vague, but given Maxis' propensity for the PC platform, it's a safe bet that the game will be aimed primarily at PC users.
For now, the only thing we know for sure is that Maxis is looking to deliver The Sims 4 at the beginning of September on PC, and at a later date on Mac, but we'll come back with new information as soon as it becomes available.