Will Wright and friend

It's been revealed that Electronic Arts are putting some money into an "entertainment think tank" designed to develop new Intellectual Properties. These new ideas will then be deployed across a number of fronts (including toys, television, movies and video games), hopefully generating some innovation and creativity in these fields.

The name of the tank? Stupid Fun Club. The man behind it all? Will Wright - who has officially left EA in order to pursue this new venture.

It's not a complete separation, however - EA and Mr. Wright (the brain behind The Sims and Spore) are principal shareholders and own equal percentages of Stupid Fun Club - with EA retaining the right to develop any game concepts that may result from Stupid Fun Club projects. Will Wright himself is represented in this deal by Creative Artists Agency.

To recap - it was roughly twenty years ago that Wright, with Jeff Braun, created Maxis. Nearly ten years after that, the company was acquired by EA. It's only natural that this decade should bring another major change in his life.

Mr. Wright explains:

"The entertainment industry is moving rapidly into an era of revolutionary change. Stupid Fun Club will explore new possibilities that are emerging from this sublime chaos and create new forms of entertainment on a variety of platforms. In my twelve years at EA, I've had the pleasure to work alongside some of the brightest and most talented game developers in the industry and I look forward to working with them again in the near future."

John Riccitiello, EA's Chief Executive Officer continues:

"We believe in Will's vision for Stupid Fun Club and we're looking forward to partnering with Will and his team long into the future. Will is a great designer and he's been part of a great legacy of globally recognized game franchises like The Sims, SimCity and Spore. The teams that have been leading those franchises in recent years have a lot of exciting content coming."

Will's company Maxis have also gone on the record supporting the idea. Lucy Bradshaw, VP and General Manager at Maxis (who will continue to run the company and the Spore franchise) comments:

"Will has been an inspiration to our teams, and it's been rewarding for us to bring his ideas to life. In addition to legendary games, Will's legacy at EA will be the many talented people who worked with him and will now continue to contribute their own vision to the art of game development."

Spore, The Sims 3
At this stage, Lucy's team at Maxis is currently working on the upcoming Spore Galactic Adventures expansion pack, as well as "other game concepts" such as Spore Creature Keeper, Spore Hero and Spore Hero Arena. As for The Sims, Rod Humble heads up the EA Play label, and is hard at work on The Sims 3, due for release in June of this year.