Prior to launch, a lot of gamers were unhappy with SimCity's new design, especially with the way multiplayer has been forced into the series. Well, those cries fell on deaf ears and consequently EA is taking a mouthful from its customers.
Thousands of users who purchased SimCity at launch yesterday have voiced their woes on forums across the internet. Server instability has prevented play for many customers, and EA even had its Origin service crash from the influx of logins—because, you know, nobody uses Origin unless they have to. Furthermore, EA issued a public apology and has been working for the past 24-hours to bring stability to the crumbling network of SimCity.
As with any game that uses an always-online DRM system, customers have unloaded their fury on SimCity's Metacritic user score. It's currently sitting at a 2.7/10 with over 760 ratings, and it's only had one day to collect hatemail. While several of the reviews are the typical 0/10 comments to vent anger, there are a lot of valid concerns brought up. Some customers are even looking for a refund.
But EA's gamble hasn't only affected the game's user score. Polygon's review for SimCity, which was initially very positive and concluded with a 9.5, was updated only hours later with two paragraphs of concern over the issue as well as a major reduction in the game's score. Now it's sitting at a 8.0 for the site. That's only one example of how this show may play out.
It's understandable that Maxis is daring to push itself; it hasn't had a hit outside of The Sims 3 in a decade. But after seeing how poorly online-only play was received with Diablo III, you think it would take a hint. Gamers clearly don't enjoy its benefits as much as game designers think they will. Maybe now this unwelcomed fad will just go away.
