Civilization 4 Lead Designer Leaves Firaxis

Soren Johnson, a longtime Firaxis employee and lead designer of Sid Meier's Civilization 4, has left the company.

Johnson spent nearly seven years at Firaxis, during which time he worked on various Civilization 3 releases before assuming the lead designer role for Sid Meier's Civilization 4 and its add-on, Civilization 4: Warlords. Prior to his time at Firaxis, Johnson was with Electronic Arts, where he worked on the Playstation versions of Knockout Kings 2000 and 2001.

According to a post on the Civilization fan site Apolyton, Johnson's employment with Firaxis ended as of April 2. He is reported to be returning to Electronic Arts, where he will work on Will Wright's new title, Spore.

Firaxis was formed in 1996 by Sid Meier, Brian Reynolds and Jeff Briggs, and focuses exclusively on Sid Meier games, such as Sid Meier's Pirates! and the Sid Meier's Civilization series. The company was acquired by Take-Two Interactive in 2005.