Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program Visits The Sims

EA is proud to partner with organizations who are committed to gender equality and provide opportunities for young women to study computer science.

90% of this year’s Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program participants said they were planning to major or minor in CS or a closely-related field, like science, mathematics, technology, or engineering.

“We are so proud to have Girls Who Code with us here at EA for the summer!” says Julie Wynn, head of EA’s global outreach team. “What better way to inspire them to pursue STEAM education than through PLAY and Games?”

The group recently had a chance to meet the team behind The Sims and tour the studio.

“I’ve been working on The Sims for over a decade,” says Grant Rodiek, Producer, The Sims 4. “The majority of our players are women and if we don’t have strong female developers, we’ll struggle to make the games our audience wants. We need the full perspective.”

Peek over their shoulders and see what it was like when Girls Who Code visited The Sims studio and get a behind-the-scenes look at how they can put their coding skills into action with game development.

The day began with a warm welcome from VP/GM of Maxis Rachel Franklin and others members of The Sims team.

Everyone was excited to hear from Rachel and get started on their own projects.

First, the girls met different members of The Sims team. These small group sessions focused mainly on art, animation and design.

“We focused the lessons and workshop on the intersection of science and art. With that focus in mind, we gave the girls a glimpse into game development, and hosted a workshop to give them a better understanding on how their technical knowledge and ideas can turn into something real and amazing,” says Stephanie Tran, Sims Associate Producer.

Over 30 members of The Sims team participated in the sessions, providing a wide range expertise and showcasing the many different roles available in games.

The day was exciting for the girls and very inspiring for the dev team.

Storyboarding helped everyone focus their ideas.

The girls broke off into workshops to develop their own ideas for The Sims. 

These collaborative projects gave the girls a chance to get 1:1 attention from members of development team.

The team was happy to give feedback and work with the groups to help bring their vision to life.

Sharing ideas with each other at the Maxis studio was a blast for all involved!

The dev team was pumped up to see the fresh perspectives the girls brought to their projects…

…and the team was proud to share their work with the group!

What better way to celebrate their amazing day than with a selfie?

Want to get involved with Girls Who Code? Learn how to volunteer, start a club or donate on the Girls Who Code website.

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EA Kicks off Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program

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