Not too long ago, Kotaku shared a rumour that Firemonkeys would be taking over development of The Sims Mobile following them laying off some of their workforce. Since that rumour, there was radio silence on the matter until now.
The Sims Mobile have officially shared on Twitter that development is being transferred from Maxis in Redwood Shores to Firemonkeys, who currently develop The Sims FreePlay and have done so for almost a decade now. Maxis employees who were working on The Sims Mobile are being moved over to the main franchise on PC and Console, the announcement suggests, as there have been no layoffs announced.
As shown in the announcement above, the transition between Maxis and Firemonkeys is nearing completion. However, it is important to note that there will be a delay in content updates for the game as Firemonkeys get stuck in with The Sims Mobile.
Some have voiced concerns that The Sims FreePlay will be affected by this however, from the announcement, it is clear that both titles will continue to exist side-by-side and receive content updates. A new community manager from Firemonkeys will also be allocated to The Sims Mobile to replace SimGuruFrost, who has moved to The Sims 4.
Personally, I believe that moving The Sims Mobile to Firemonkeys makes complete sense. They have a strong background in various mobile games, not just The Sims FreePlay, making them a perfect studio for taking this title into the future. I am looking forward to seeing what they bring to the game!