SimCity 5 release date announced

EA has confirmed that SimCity will be available in stores on 8 March, 2013.

Simply named SimCity (because EA can’t count to 5), the game will see the return of one of the most beloved management sims in PC gaming history. The game is powered by Maxis’ new Glassbox engine, which promises to bring interesting new elements to the classic city-sim gameplay we have come to expect.

Glass Box is a data-driven simulation that Maxis has built for Maxis-style games, not just SimCity, but other games like Sim Copter and Sim Tower.
Maxis pins it as their “best bet for the future as a PC driven studio.”
Glass Box is a simulation of resources (wood, water, pollution, labour hours), units (houses, factories, shops, workplaces), maps (uniform grids laid over the world such as coal, oil, forests and land value).
If it is being simulated it is visualised, if it is visualised it’s being simulated (insert profundity here).
SimCity 5 is expected to support “tens of thousands” of units (people and vehicles) each with their own self-contained simulation logic and can all be moving at once.
No more zig-zagging roads, pipes and power cables. “Fully 3D spline-based paths” replace them, making placements look even on uneven terrain or awkward directions.
Will have online features such as cloud saves, statistics and multiplayer.
Multiplayer will use an asynchronous server model. Interactions with friends or foe will be possible without being simultaneously online.

SimCity 5 has been dragged into the modern PC gaming era of ~~always-annoying~~ always-on internet connectivity requirements. Maxis justifies this by touting a persistent regional and global economy system that’s influenced by all players online, which admittedly does sound pretty interesting.

Multiplayer features will include cloud saves and persistent statistics. Multiplayer will use an asynchronous server model. Interactions with friends (or foe) will be possible without being simultaneously online.

Maxis also promises that the game will be offering a rich single-player experience.

SimCity gameplay trailer: