SimCity offline mode may be coming

EA is exploring offline mode for SimCity. Patrick Buechner, General Manager for Maxis Emeryville, posted a “State of SimCity” article outlining where the controversial game stands seven months after launch. Buechner reiterated that the team reads and listens to fan input, citing the addition of the ability to raise and lower roads as an example of feedback leading to an improvement. On the subject of larger spaces, Buechner said the team investigated various ways to increase city size, but that it isn’t practical with the Glassbox engine. He did have some good news regarding the an offline mode being added to the game.

Right now we have a team specifically focused on exploring the possibility of an offline mode. I can’t make any promises on when we will have more information, but we know this is something that many of our players have been asking for. While the server connectivity issues are behind us, we would like to give our players the ability to play even if they choose not to connect. An offline mode would have the additional benefit of providing room to the modding community to experiment without interfering or breaking the multiplayer experience.

Patrick Buechner ended the post by thanking fans for their passion and emphasizing his own commitment to the game.