 "SimCity developers rethinking always-online requirement")
While the official launch of SimCity may not have gone as planned, it now looks like EA and Maxis have been able to iron out most of the issues that were cropping up. While that is good news, it now looks like a growing number of gamers have been vocal about their desire to play the game offline. And a post on the SimCity blog suggests that their pleas may have been heard. While the team at Maxis has begun releasing regular updates for expanding the amount of content within the game, it looks like they want to go one step further.
Patrick Buechner, the General Manager at the company, has said that Maxis now has “a team specifically focused on exploring the possibility of an offline mode.” While there is still no word on when or even if the offline mode will be available, the post notes that the game developers see the benefit of allowing players to check into their cities offline. This will also increase the chances of the game becoming an active modding community.
SimCity developers may be reconsidering the always-online requirement
Always-online requirement has always been a controversial thing. Microsoft was recently forced to back away from many of its always-online plans for the Xbox One after the decision was faced with nearly unanimous disapproval.
Another developer, Blizzard, has also faced criticism for requiring players of Diablo 3 to connect to the Internet. Since then, it has been reported the the developer is working on a PS3 and PS4 version of the game which supports offline gaming. Blizzard was also forced to shut down the controversial real-money auction house after dealing with months of negative feedback. The latest move by Maxis seems promising, although we will have to see if the always-online requirement is eventually removed or considered too intrinsic to the game.
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