‘SimCity’ launches to critical acclaim and crippling server problems – The Verge

A year after troublesome launch, ‘SimCity’ finally gets an offline mode

2014-03-18T10:38:37-04:00

When SimCity came out last March, critics were thrilled with the beloved series' first game in nearly a decade. But no one could praise publisher EA's handling of the launch, which was chronically plagued with server issues that left players stuck with a game they couldn't play. Now, after an entire year, developer Maxis is giving SimCity players what they've been asking for: a way to play the game offline.

Update 10, available today, brings a single player mode to the game. Instead of the always-online multiplayer experience that the title launched with, players will be able to nurture their own cities without worrying about neighbors dama …

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‘SimCity’ is finally getting an offline mode

2014-01-13T09:53:05-05:00

SimCity Cities of the Future

It's been a long time coming, but the troubled SimCity is finally getting an offline mode. The game originally launched in March of last year to critical acclaim, but ongoing server problems meant that its always-online requirement made it largely unplayable for many gamers. Developer Maxis previously hinted that an offline mode was in the works back in October, and now it has finally confirmed the news.

"When we launch it, all of your previously downloaded content will be available to you anytime, anywhere, without the need for an internet connection," says Patrick Buechner, GM of Maxis' Emeryville studio. Unfortunately, there's still no h …

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‘SimCity’ may get an offline mode after all

2013-10-04T11:48:16-04:00

simcity

SimCity may finally drop the online-only requirement that brought the game to a grinding halt for many players during its launch week. The game's developer, Maxis, originally said that SimCity had to be played online in order to offload certain strenuous work into the cloud, but doing so meant that players couldn't run the game if they didn't have an internet connection or - as often occurred - if the game's servers were down. Now Maxis says that it's "exploring the possibility" of adding an offline mode - a change that players have been requesting since its launch in March.

A team is "exploring" bringing the game offline

Maxis' phrasing lea …

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The first ‘SimCity’ expansion takes the game into the future

2013-09-19T12:12:33-04:00

SimCity Cities of the Future

If you managed to get past the technical issues and really dig into SimCity earlier this year, there's good news, as EA has just announced the city-building game's very first expansion. Dubbed Cities of the Future, the expansion lets you create a metropolis using technologies that could exist in the next 50-75 years. That includes everything from flying delivery drones and elevated maglev trains to giant, mega-skyscrapers that look ripped right out Blade Runner. We don't have too many other details, though IGN has a brief video preview that you can check out below. No price has been revealed just yet, but Cities of the Future is expected to …

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Déjà vu: ‘SimCity’ for Mac struggles with day-one issues (update)

2013-08-29T22:14:19-04:00

SimCity City Hall Protest

In June, Electronic Arts made a "tough decision" to postpone the release of 'SimCity' for Mac until August, but it appears that the two-month delay might not have been enough. Today, on the day of release, the game's forums are already crawling with users experiencing a variety of issues with the software - issues wholly unlike the server woes that plagued the Windows original. Electronic Arts has admitted a number of potential issues installing the Mac version of the game and getting it to run, going so far as to create a "SimCity Mac Install FAQ" to help players avoid some of the most common ones.

Still not ready for prime time?

For instance …

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‘SimCity’ for Mac delayed until August

2013-06-06T17:49:05-04:00

SimCity Big Buildings

EA Maxis has announced today that the Mac version of its very popular but beleaguered PC game SimCity will be delayed until August, with no more specific date given. The developer had previously announced in April that the Mac version would be available on June 11th, just five days from now. "We have made this tough decision because we do not believe [the Mac version] is ready for prime time yet," Kip Katsarelis, SimCity's senior producer, wrote on EA's website.

The launch of SimCity in March was plagued with server issues and connectivity problems, which left EA in the tough position of having to disable critical features for periods of ti …

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Why ‘SimCity’ has no parking lots, and other insights from the lead designer

2013-05-09T14:58:41-04:00

SimCity Big Buildings

"Our game was going to be really boring if it was proportional in terms of parking lots," SimCity lead designer Stone Librande says of his decision to simply pretend the game's parking is underground. It's one of many decisions Librande and his team had to make when building their world simulation - adding some details created fascinating emergent phenomena like in-game traffic jams, but other things, like food supply chains, just wouldn't fit. At The Atlantic, Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley interview Librande about how he prepared for the game and what people ended up taking out of it, whether they chose to build a fantasy city or engage …

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Original ‘SimCity’ creator Will Wright calls EA’s botched game launch ‘inexcusable’

2013-05-08T10:11:53-04:00

simcity

EA has been roundly thrashed for the rocky launch of SimCity, and Will Wright - who designed the original SimCity title and co-founded studio Maxis before leaving for other projects - says the company should have seen it coming. Wright told GamesIndustry International that the new SimCity was "a good game; I enjoy playing it a lot." But he expressed sympathy for the team, saying "I could have predicted - I kind of did predict there'd be a big backlash about the DRM stuff." He has stronger words for the launch itself, which left many people unable to play at all for days on end due to the need to connect to a game server.

"It was kind of lik …

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‘SimCity’ for Mac available starting on June 11th

2013-04-10T10:42:35-04:00

SimCity Police

Hoping that it can put the launch issues of the PC version behind it, EA has announced the availability of SimCity for Mac. The company says that from June 11th, you'll will be able to purchase a copy of SimCity on its Origin games distribution platform and receive a copy playable on both the Mac and PC. That means if you have already purchased the PC version, you'll now be able to download it and play on the Mac for no extra charge.

EA says it has already sold more than 1.3 million units on PC since its launch in March, and will allow gamers playing both SimCity versions to connect to the same servers. Given that the game's online-only req …

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EA CEO John Riccitiello stepping down on March 30th

2013-03-18T16:10:13-04:00

EA electronic arts logo

EA CEO John Riccitiello is stepping down from the video game giant as of March 30th, the company announced today. His departure comes at a time when EA is struggling with public perception over the troubled launch of SimCity, but the company also simultaneously announced that the game has sold more than one million copies since launching two weeks ago.

The circumstances surrounding Riccitiello's departure aren't clear yet; EA's press release indicates that both the former CEO and newly-appointed Executive Chairman Larry Probst (who served as EA CEO from 1991 until 2007) came to a mutual agreement that the time was right for Riccitiello to m …

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