Stone Librande, Lead Designer at Maxis, has confirmed that SimCity will require an always on internet connection to play.
Confirming the news with Joystiq, Stone said that the constant internet connection, which would connect to EA servers through Origin, was necessary to emphasise the multiplayer as well a player’s impact on regional affairs and the game’s global economy. It was also confirmed that SimCity will be available for purchase through outlets other than Origin.
SimCity was announced at GDC and you can check the game engine behind SimCity here.
Update: SimCity will also not be supporting mods at launch, though the Glassbox engine has been modified so it could happen after release.
Ocean Quigley, Creative Director at Maxis, told Joystiq:
“Right now we’ve got our work cut out for us to build the product up to the quality level it deserves as a SimCity. Then after we ship, we’ll make decisions about how we can and when exactly we’ll support mods.
But it’s worth pointing out that the reason people are still playing SimCity 4 almost ten years later is because the modding community essentially re-created it and filled it with new content and fixed bugs and made it as much of a hobby as it is a game.”
Eldave0
Still remember the first SimCity on my Win95 Packard Bell PC. That + Tomb Raider 2 = Great times
TheDemocrodile
i had the original on my AGA equipped Amiga :D
KeRaSh
I understand the subtile global economy multiplayer aspect of the game but that should be totally optional. Here is just looks like Ubisoft kind of DRM in disguise…
TheDemocrodile
yep, thats pretty much what it is so im out, its funny really when you consider that Ubisofts DRM and “War on Piracy” cost it an 80% sales drop on the PC platform, youd have thought they would steer clear of such a disaster area.
Sympozium
Oh no, if Ubisoft thinks they’re doing fine with there DRM then leave them to rot.. what else have they done besides milking Assassins Creeds anyway.
Forrest_01
Driver is/was pretty fantastic & i think Rayman was Ubi too wasn’t it?
Apart from that & titles from a couple of years back though, i am struggling.
KeRaSh
Ubisoft actually realized that their approach was a failure and as far as I know they want to change their strategy to releasing premium post release content to get people into buying and keeping their future titles instead of the constant internet connection thing.
Yes, Rayman was made by Ubi and it’s amazing. They are very talented but their DRM policy is utterly stupid.
Sympozium
Oh god its a good excuse to have a constant connection but it Should be optional.
When the nets down or EA’s servers feature a premium loose bolt, Players are fecked and the Economy of Simcity is very near to a recession.
I understand the importance but damn they better have a offline mode.
Severn2j
Also, EA have a history of shutting down servers after only a year or two of the games release.
Nocure-fd
Well, I guess Diablo 3 and this are both on the “Do not buy” list then.
Sympozium
If only something was done…
Kennykazey
I don’t mind, still want this game. I’m going to be playing it on a desktop with constant connection anyway. For those that are put off, there will probably be an unofficial tool to make it playable without a connection out quickly.
hazelam
stupid, stupid, stupid ea.
when will they learn?
answer, probably never.
hazelam
but you know the sad thing, less people will complain about this than the ending of mass effect.
criticise their creative decisions, but not invasive drm like this.
but then, maybe the gamers are as much to blame as the publishers, if people stopped supporting this kind of crap they wouldn’t do it any more.
hazelam
and i wanted to make a comment about the lack of mod support, but i forgot. ^_^
anyway.
i can guess why there’s no mod support.
why let users create content for free, when they can sell it to them.
because we all know ea’s all about the dlc these days.
look at battlefield 3, you can now buy all the unlocks in the game, you don’t even need to play the game any more
KeRaSh
There won’t be mod support when the game releases but it will follow. Skyrim didn’t have mod support right from the get go.
hazelam
yeah they say that, but ea say a lot of things.
maybe they will, maybe they wont.
not that it really matters, because with that always on thing, i’m never gonna be buying it.
yogdog
Plus Skyrim was from Bethesda, not EA.
KeRaSh
I know, I just said they did the same thing but nobody cried about that…
Sympozium
Yeah but EA’s been more controversial with DLC… so why not charge for mod support they will wonder?
Burgess_101
Not to mention it will be on Origin. EA’s stupidity amazes me sometimes.
colossalblue
ew, this is dodgy. The multiplayer is turn based, isn’t it? Sorry, we don’t use that term anymore… the multiplayer is asynchronous, isn’t it?
Soooo… it’s just restrictive DRM then? Bullshit move, EA, and something that googling “Ubisoft DRM fail” should be enough to put you off trying.
Uhyve
I hope not, I’ve dreamed of playing SimCity over LAN with my friends, having to play over Origin, annoying but if it was good multiplayer, worth it. I mean, turn based multiplayer doesn’t even make any sense, it’s an RTS… real time is actually in the genre name.
As I think about it more, it makes me more angry. I mean, I knew they wouldn’t have proper multiplayer, they’ve never managed it before but it’s required nowadays so they just tacked something on.
hazelam
i remember playing an asynchronous game once before.
it had a graphite and carbon interface and turns were sent via a non digital land based communications network.
what did they call then?
oh yeah, i remember.
play by mail. ^_^
Forrest_01
Play by mail becomes a lot harder to justify when stamps cost 60p though! :P
The Lone Steven
EA risk killing off Simcity pretty early without mod support as mods extend the life of a game. Morrowind is still getting mods to this very day. So why don’t they take a look at other games that have mod support and consider the pros of mods.
I think most PC gamers hate the mandatory online connection drm. Plus, what if the net goes down and you want to play it untill it is sorted out? You can’t as god forbid you should enjoy yourself.
At least, they haven’t annouced that you can unlock the entire game months before release.
KeRaSh
It says that mod support will follow after the release.
yogdog
Was on my radar as Simcity games are a bit hit and miss with me, now it’s off it by a million miles…