10:16 PST 2/4/2021
by
Trilby Beresford
Never Forget Games is led by Ray Mazza and Michael Duke, who are known for their work on ‘The Sims’ franchise.
The wildlife company Wildlife, along with Electronic Arts veterans Ray Mazza and Michael Duke, formed a studio, Never Forget Games.
The San Francisco-based studio will develop games using Wildlife’s development and publishing platform.
Mazza is known for developing the puzzle game Add Dragons! – which Zynga acquired in 2018 – and is working on it The Sims by Electronic Arts. Duke was a former senior producer for The Sims 4. Peter Ingebretson, chief game engineer for The Sims 3 and 4, is also one of the group of leaders leading the new studio.
Wildlife, which the Brazilian brothers Victor and Arthur Lazarte founded in 2011, is known for, among other things, games Sniper 3D, Zoomba, Tennis Clash and War machines. Last August, the company announced that it had raised $ 3 billion in financing from investors, including Venture Partners and Vulcan Capital. The company has more than 850 employees in five offices around the world, including the US, Ireland, Argentina and Brazil.
“We bring superstars together to push the boundaries of creativity and fun with the formation of Never Forget Games, which builds memorable gaming experiences.” Mazza said in a statement. Duke added, “Ray and I had a lot of choices to decide who to work with for our next endeavor. The wildlife was perfect because we had full creative control without the headache of starting our own business. We need to focus on what matters: making games. “
Sean Boyle, former chief financial officer of Amazon Web Services, will join Never Forget Games as chief operating officer. Robby Andrews, formerly head of growth at Instagram, will join as head of publishing.
Wildtuin CEO Lazarte said: “We want to be the company that best honors talented game creators, and that makes it easier and faster for them to create the games that will characterize our generation. We are investing in our publishing infrastructure , which allows developers to concentrate only on making great games.