Maxis Head Lucy Bradshaw Provides New SimCity Update

Maxis Head Lucy Bradshaw Provides New SimCity Update

Not content with just one update on the woes of the SimCity launch, the head of Maxis, Lucy Bradshaw has provided another statement about the current situation. She indicates that as a result of back-end server work and client side updates various connectivity issues and game crashes are being resolved, but that they are unable just yet to claim the game is running at 100%. You can find her statement after the break.

I’m happy to report that the core problem with getting in and having a great SimCity experience is almost behind us. Our players have been able to connect to their cities in the game for nearly 8 million hours of gameplay time and we’ve reduced game crashes by 92% from day one.

A combination of optimizing our server architecture and response times, deploying these enhancements on both a series of new and the original servers and issuing a few critical client updates has achieved getting virtually everyone into the game and, once in, having a great time building cities and sharing regions.

I had hoped to issue an “All-Clear” tonight, but there are still some elements coming together. Tonight and tomorrow we’ll be monitoring each server and gameplay metrics to ensure that the service remains strong and game is playing great. We need a few more days of data before we can assure you that the problem is completely solved and the game is running at 100 percent.

The good news is that tens of thousands of new players are streaming into the game every day and the confidence our fans have shown is truly humbling. I can’t begin to explain the way a development team feels when something you’re proud of is threatened at launch. Our biggest fear was that people who love this franchise would be scared off by bad reviews about the connectivity issues.

But you put your faith in us. You bought the game with the understanding that we’d quickly fix the server issues. For that support – that incredible commitment from our fans — we are deeply grateful. As the general manager of Maxis, I want you to know that we cherish your faith in us, and the love you’ve shown for this franchise.

Thank you very much.

While I am glad that EA and Maxis are working to resolve the issues, it is too little too late. It is nearly a week since the game launched in America and they can’t be satisfied that things are all hunky dory. While I appreciate that companies can never fully appreciate the demand that will be placed on game servers, surely it is better to overcompensate drastically for the first few weeks of launch before cutting back as usage stabilises.

My only personal issue with the game occurred after leaving it paused for an hour and returning to find my connection had been lost to the server. After trying to reconnect while in-game I was unable to get back into my city, however after leaving the game entirely and restarting it, I was able to continue playing as normal. I do appreciate however that I am likely in the minority of people who have had limited problems with the game so far.

The free game offer from the EA back-catalogue will certainly go some distance to sooth some players, but I am sure that there will be others who have given up entirely on the game and won’t be returning to it, whether they have been able to get a refund or not. After the issues with SimCity though, how many of us trust EA successfully and competently deliver on their promise of this free game?

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