According to Entertainment Arts (EA), the latest social version of Maxis' city-building simulation SimCity has reached 1.1 million in sales through digital downloads and store purchases combined in just two weeks since the launch, reports USA Today.
Although, SimCity launch experienced some unexpected issues which refrained users from logging on to the game due to server crashes, the company managed to address the issue and continuously made efforts to resolve those problems. EA also offered a game for free from a list of eight EA games for those who experienced problems after purchasing the game.
Users who purchased the game before March 25 11:59 p.m. were eligible to select their choice of game from the list that includes Battlefield 3 (Standard Edition), Bejeweled 3, Dead Space 3 (Standard Edition), Mass Effect 3 (Standard Edition), Medal of Honor Warfighter (Standard Edition), Need For Speed Most Wanted (Standard Edition), Plants vs. Zombies and SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition.
The game requires users to be connected to the Internet at all times in order to access and start playing, even if users choose to play solo. In order to avoid server outage, EA said it increased the server capacity by 400 percent.
A report from IGN.com said that SimCity has gained popularity in greater proportions. Users have been logged in for more than 12 million hours of online game play.
Lucy Bradshaw, general manager of SimCity creator Maxis, wrote in defense of the online game mode, which received criticism from several gamers that it was added to give gamers a more realistic experience.
"So, could we have built a subset offline mode? Yes," she wrote in her blog. "But we rejected that idea because it didn't fit with our vision. We did not focus on the "single city in isolation" that we have delivered in past SimCities.
"We recognize that there are fans - people who love the original SimCity - who want that," she said. "But we're also hearing from thousands of people who are playing across regions, trading, communicating and loving the Always-Connected functionality. The SimCity we delivered captures the magic of its heritage but catches up with ever-improving technology."
