New ‘SimCity’ game sales top 1 million, EA forced to apologize for connection issues

Despite a troubled launch, the sales for the latest edition of Electronic Arts’ SimCity have topped 1 million. This news comes as EA has been forced to apologize to gamers for connection issues, especially since the game cannot be played offline.

According to USA Today, EA proudly announced the sales today, confirming that 1.1 million copies have been sold since it launched two weeks ago. “SimCity is one of the storied brands in gaming, and Maxis delivered a game re-envisioned and engineered for the online age,” EA COO Peter Moore said.

Still, the company had to own up to its mistakes. The company angered fans who dealt with countless issues when they tried to log in for the first time. Many have complained that SimCity, unlike past incarnations of the game, requires you to be on the internet at all times, even when in solo mode.

The BBC reports that EA has now admitted that they had at once planned to make the game one-player only. They are now offering a selection of free games for gamers who have registered by March 25.

EA is still defending its decision to require an internet connection for the game, though. Lucy Bradshaw of SimCity creator Maxis, wrote in a blog post that a social element was added to give gamers a more realistic experience in which the actions of one city can affect another.

“So, could we have built a subset offline mode? Yes,” Bradshaw wrote. “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. 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.”