More than a year ago, developer Maxis and publisher EA launched a refresh of SimCity, one of the iconic games of the 1990s that was a cherished staple of early computer gaming. However, like a lot of things EA touches, the new SimCity was a disaster from day one. The game’s always-on digital rights management system that forced players to play the game online quickly crashed EA’s servers and made the game unplayable during its launch week.
However, Maxis and EA are finally about to make things sort-of right for SimCity players. Maxis sent out a message on its Twitter account this week saying that its latest update that will allow for offline play is in “final testing” and is “almost there.” While this is welcome news for many SimCity players, it also comes a year too late and will likely do little to revive the game’s fortunes in the eyes of potential customers. Better late than never, as they say, but it would probably be better for Maxis and EA to think things through a little bit more if they ever decide to launch a SimCity sequel.
