Did EA lie? SimCity getting offline mode and modding

When the SimCity “reboot” launched in March 2013, it was met with a lot of derision from fans and critics alike for numerous reasons. It looks like EA and Maxis have finally listened to their customers.

One of the most contentious issues was the always online Internet requirement which hamstrung many players during launch week, and persistently irritated thereafter – and this is for a game which is ostensibly a single-player experience.

Well, that’s one area of the beleaguered game that is set to improve, as General Manager of the Maxis Emeryville studio, Patrick Buechner has announced that SimCity is getting an offline mode.

Offline mode will be deployed (for free) along with update 10. All game content will be available while offline. The update is currently being tested by the game’s DevTesters group.

According to Patrick Buechner:

In Update 10, you can still play solo in Regions on your own, or in Multiplayer with people from around the world. What’s new is the Single Player Mode, which allows you to play the game Offline by yourself. And because your saved games in this mode are stored locally, you can save and load to your heart’s content. Our team will be delivering a follow-up blog that will outline the full details in the near future so stay tuned.

So what does this mean for the Online game? All of the benefits of being connected will remain including access to Multiplayer, the Global Market and Leaderboards. And all of your pre-existing saved cities and regions will still be accessible should you log-in to the Online game.

This rather undermines their previous official statements. What about the EA SimCity servers being required to run the game simulation, no offline mode being possible, and hence justifying the always-online requirement? Explain that one EA…

Maxis dashes hopes with “no offline” response

Buechner also announced that another popular series feature that was missing from SimCity 2013 is being brought back – the ability to modify your game:

Bringing the game Offline means big things for our wonderful community of Modders. They can now make modifications to the game and its components without compromising the integrity of the Online game. Modding is a big part of our studio’s legacy and we’re excited to see what you guys create.