SimCity PC News Page 2

Maxis is currently testing fixes for big SimCity issues like progress loss and bringing back Cheetah speed, the developer says. It still has smaller patches in the works too, with patch 2.0 set to bring improvements to fire engines, street cars, casinos and more. Read more

Maxis and Electronic Arts have rightly endured their share of slings and arrows for its botched launch of SimCity, but one developer giving a talk about the game at GDC is trying to make the best of a bad situation. Read more

SimCity was brought crashing down at launch by its always-online requirement, this we know. However, EA Labels president Frank Gibeau has sworn blind that the requirement was a result of the designers' MMO visions, not a DRM mandate handed down to Maxis from EA. He's ragged on DRM a fair bit too, decrying it as "not a viable strategy for the gaming business." Honest. Read more

Given the incredibly volatile launch SimCity has experienced, you'd think that Electronic Arts would wait before issuing a press release about the game's sales figures. But, no. Here we go. Read more

Being the first SimCity game in over a decade, you'd think that EA would have known that demand for their city-planning game would be through the roof. But as SimCity's bungled launch proved, that was not the case. In fact, a new interview with Maxis' Lucy Bradshaw reveals exactly how much the company had grossly underestimated launch demand. Read more

"Could we have built a subset offline mode" in SimCity, Maxis asked. "Yes. But we rejected that idea because it didn't fit with our vision." Read more

SimCity is starting to show signs of recovery, and Maxis has outlined its current moves to turn on non-essential features and plans for an upcoming patch. Read more

A modder has posted a video showing SimCity highways being built outside city boundaries, and a sort of "offline mode" in which the disconnect timer has been disabled. Read more

SimCity has almost scrambled back to its feet following the disastrous launch that left players languishing in queues, thanks to a string of updates and new servers. Maxis claimed over the weekend that the "core problem" of being being unable to play is "almost behind us", and that it has "reduced game crashes by 92% from day one." It also dropped teasing, but slightly contradictory, hints that it may consider adding offline support. Read more

EA is offering a free PC game to SimCity players as an apology for the game's bungled launch. Read more