Since it’s launch the new Sim City has been a hit.
But, the game did go off (launch) with a few hiccups. Players have been being booted out of the game since the servers have been overloaded with excited SimCity fans who are/were dying to build their cities. In addition, many players have found that once they’ve started a city and returned to the game their cities have been lost.
EA is aware of the issues and problems that the players have had to contend with. An announcement was posted yesterday in regards to the issues SimCity incurred.
Ultimately EA will make things right. To keep in your good graces, on March 18, SimCity players who have activated their game will receive an email telling them how to redeem a free PC download game from the EA portfolio.
A SIMCITY UPDATE…AND SOMETHING FOR YOUR TROUBLE
Here’s a quick update on the problems we were experiencing with SimCity – and a little something extra for people who bought the game.
The server issues which began at launch have improved significantly as we added more capacity. But some people are still experiencing response and stability problems that we’re working fast to address.
So what went wrong? The short answer is: a lot more people logged on than we expected. More people played and played in ways we never saw in the beta.
OK, we agree, that was dumb, but we are committed to fixing it. In the last 48 hours we increased server capacity by 120 percent. It’s working – the number of people who have gotten in and built cities has improved dramatically. The number of disrupted experiences has dropped by roughly 80 percent.
So we’re close to fixed, but not quite there. I’m hoping to post another update this weekend to let everyone know that the launch issues are behind us.
Something Special for Your Trouble
The good news is that SimCity is a solid hit in all major markets. The consensus among critics and players is that this is fundamentally a great game. But this SimCity is made to be played online, and if you can’t get a stable connection, you’re NOT having a good experience. So we’re not going to rest until we’ve fixed the remaining server issues.
And to get us back in your good graces, we’re going to offer you a free PC download game from the EA portfolio. On March 18, SimCity players who have activated their game will receive an email telling them how to redeem their free game.
I know that’s a little contrived – kind of like buying a present for a friend after you did something crummy. But we feel bad about what happened. We’re hoping you won’t stay mad and that we’ll be friends again when SimCity is running at 100 percent.
SimCity is a GREAT game and the people who made it are incredibly proud. Hang in there – we’ll be providing more updates throughout the weekend.
On a side note; Zynga couldn’t let an opportunity slide by without getting a promotion in and attempt to sway some of those SimCity fans toward Zynga’s CoasterVille.
Now that’s Mafia. Hitting a competitor gaming company when their servers are down.
