It’s been almost a year since SimCity‘s disastrous launch threatened the future of one of PC gaming’s golden franchises. During that time Maxis has said on numerous occasions that the game was built with the future in mind, and that offline play would be “impossible” to add. Well, apparently it wasn’t impossible enough.
General manager Patrick Buechner has confirmed that offline play is coming to SimCity via a news post on the SimCity blog. It reads.
Yes, Offline is coming as a free download with Update 10 to all SimCity players. When we launch it, all of your previously downloaded content will be available to you anytime, anywhere, without the need for an internet connection. We are in the late phases of wrapping up its development and while we want to get it into your hands as soon as possible, our priority is to make sure that it’s as polished as possible before we release it.
Unfortunately, SimCity has been designed from the ground up with an online play philosophy. The workspace is much smaller in the latest iteration, and some mechanics go against the freedom of previous releases.
In order to give fans the tools needed to tailor the SimCity experience to their tastes, Maxis added mod support several days back. Fans are encouraged to either download and try mods or develop some of their own, as long as they adhere to the rules. Maxis has even gone out of its way to support mod developers, offering them a chance to make money from their labor.
SimCity quickly sold over a million units, but backlash would stunt sales after its launch week. As a fan of the franchise, I’ve been hesitant to jump onboard. However, offline mode and mod support might just be enough to win me over. Listening to fans is the best thing EA can do.
