Ocean Quigley, the creative director for SimCity, and the owner of one of the greatest names I have ever heard, announced via twitter today that he has left Maxis and founded his own game development studio, known as Jellygrade. And he won’t be doing it alone. Leaving along side Quigley are lead architect Andrew Willmott, and lead gameplay engineer Dan Moskowitz. No word from Maxis on what losing three of its best means for the future of SimCity, but Quigley and Co. have already announced that they have begun work on an iPad game that will simulate the origins of life on Earth, using water, lava, rock, and primordial creatures. Having worked on SimCity, the Sims, and Spore, I’d say that this team is very well equipped to tackle such a project.

To see the original tweet from Quigley go to: https://twitter.com/oceanquigley/status/357197508985896960

To stay updated on the new project, and the future of Jellygrade games you can visit them at: http://www.jellygrade.com/