Andre Yoskowitz
9 Mar 2013 19:15
Earlier this week, EA released its newly updated 'SimCity' title to critical acclaim.
However, the consumer feedback has been less than stellar (that is being extremely generous) due to the game's "always-on" DRM requiring a user be connected to the Internet and logged in to EA's Origin at all times to play, even in single player mode.
The load on EA's Origin servers has meant most players that put down $60 to download the game have been unable to even log in or try their new game.
On Amazon, the game has as 1.2/5 stars, with 1500 of the 1750 ratings coming in at 1 star. In fact, the game has been rated so low that Amazon even temporarily halted sales of the game until today. The page still has this warning: "Many customers are having issues connecting to the "SimCity" servers. EA is actively working to resolve these issues, but at this time we do not know when the issue will be fixed. Please visit https://help.ea.com/en/simcity/simcity for more information."
As compensation, EA will offer all buyers a free title. On March 18, all customers with activated copies will receive details via email on how to redeem their free EA game, which will be downloadable through the Origins digital store.
SimCity is still not running at 100 percent, as of writing. Players with pirated copies are likely having no issues, however.