Kevin Bostic
EA announced on Wednesday that the latest version of its hit SimCity franchise would land on Apple's Mac platform on June 11. As an added bonus, those who already bought the game for Windows will get a Mac copy for free.
The new SimCity will be available exclusively as a digital release on EA's Origin service, as well as other online retailers. SimCity who have already purchased the game on PC will be entitled to a free digital copy for Mac as well.
The Mac version's entire software renderer was rewritten for OpenGL in order to ensure that it will function well on Apple's platform. Using EA's Origin, the game's multiplayer elements are also cross-platform, allowing Mac and PC players to compete against and collaborate with each other.
The new SimCity has already sold in excess of three million units since its launch on the PC. That launch, though, was marred by complications with the game's Digital Rights Management component, which requires a persistent Internet connection in order for the game to function, even in single-player mode.
EA, at the time of the game's launch, did not have the server capacity to handle the number of players logging on, resulting in many customers being unable to access the game shortly after its release. EA has since upgraded its server infrastructure.
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24 Comments
EA thinks they're going to sell this still? HAH.
For a game I've been looking forward to for years, I'll buy it when there is an offline mode.
Quit whining about the offline mode. The always-on is not that big of a deal. This is very nice though, I bought the Windows version and wasn't fully sure if they would do this and they did, hard to play at smooth FPS when my rMBP still has bootcamp throttling issues.
AI copying the centered alignment, like a frequent poster [S]does[/S] used to do? Ok, 3 million sales, nothing to sneeze at. I don't play games, but that figure tells me it's not a loss to EA.
But, reviews of SimCity are overwhelmingly AWFUL.
http://consumerist.com/2013/04/09/ea-makes-worst-company-in-america-history-wins-title-for-second-year-in-a-row/
I don't play and EA games, but this is kind of funny. They beat out BOFA.