It"s been an ... interesting launch week in the US for SimCity. The latest game in the urban planning simulation series from Electronic Arts. has been hit with online server problems ever since it launched on Tuesday. The game requires an Internet connection to play and as a result, many people who have tried to play SimCity have been unable to do so.
It"s gotten so bad that today, EA issued a new hotfix patch for SimCity that actually removes some online features. In a post on the game"s message board, a EA team member described the patch, saying, "This includes various improvements and also disables a few non-critical gameplay features (leaderboards, achievements and region filters). Disabling these features will in no way affect your core gameplay experience."
On Wednesday, SimCity"s senior producer Kip Katsarelis posted up a message that said EA was launching more servers and issuing patches, adding, "Our live ops team is working 24/7 to resolve issues and ensure that bug fixes roll into the game as quickly as possible."
It"s clear that EA was in no way prepared for the influx of players who signed onto the SimCity servers. It"s also proved to be a debate point for gamers who have complained about the growing amount of PC games that require an Internet connection, even if the gamer wants to play a single player campaign or scenario.
Source: EA | Image via EA