Soren Johnson, recognized for his work on Firaxis' Civilizations series, is "moving back" to the fold of Electronic Arts to join creative genius Will Wright's staff on the ambitious cross-platform project Spore.

Johnson was a former EA intern while he was taking up graduate school in Stanford University in California. He has a bachelor's degree with honors in history and has an MS in computer science, making him ideal for the Civilizations series.

He was Lead Game Designer in Civilization IV and Co-lead Designer in Civilization III. The Civilizations franchise rose to prominence in the late 90's and has been one of the most respected names in the real-time strategy genre.

Spore, on the other hand, is described by its developers as a massive single player game. How it works out is still uncertain, but we'll update you as soon as news is forthcoming.