author: Zuzanna Domeradzka
Key The Sims 4 Dev Leaving EA Maxis, Gamers Celebrate
Grant Rodiek has announced his departure from EA Maxis. Fans of The Sims series are surprised by some news surrounding the developer known for his controversial statements.
Yesterday, Grant Rodiek shared a message on LinkedIn announcing that he had decided to leave EA Maxis. He thus ended many years of adventure with Electronic Arts.
Rodiek is an important and well-known character among fans of The Sims series. This developer is one of three main producers of the fourth part of the series; he also worked on the more cherished The Sims 3 and The Sims 2.
The news of his departure outraged many fans. The most controversial turned out to be the following passage from Grant Rodiek's post:
There is always another milestone to hit. A feature you want to deliver to the players. [...] My kids, who need to eat.
Players openly mocked this confession, claiming that an employee of a profitable studio that publishes a lot of paid expansions for The Sims 4 can certainly afford food. Some fans also didn't like the fact that, according to Rodiek, one of the "many things happening in games right now" is artificial intelligence (the use of AI to reproduce actors' voices has recently caused a lot of controversy).
While there are people who wish Grant Rodiek good luck in the future, the overwhelming majority of fans seem happy about his departure from studio. The developer was known for his sweeping statements defending EA's actions.
Rodiek claimed that preventing players from controlling dogs and cats in The Sims 4 was a "100% good decision" (such functionality was featured in older installments) â?? the same applies to the lack of kennels for pets.
Grant Rodiek also came under flak for his comments on the (controversial) development of the latest installment. An example is an interview with the developer, in which he mentioned new features added to the game years after its release, which, according to some of the community, should have been there from the get-go.
We know that Grant Rodiek also worked on Project Rene (commonly called The Sims 5). The developer will now be looking for employment in another gamedev studio.
