EA Offering SimCity Players a Free Game
EA wants to be friends.
EA is offering players of its newest SimCity title a free game in an attempt to make up for the shambles that was the SimCity launch. SimCity launched last week after a 10-year wait. Unfortunately, the launch didn't exactly go smoothly. SimCity 5 requires a constant internet connection, even for the single-player portion. EA claims it's because of the social and multiplayer aspects but it seems the company's online servers just can't handle the traffic that comes with a big-ticket launch.
In a blog post published this past weekend, EA's Lucy Bradshaw, who is the general manager of the Maxis label, said that the company would be making things right with the offer of a free game.
"[...] to get us back in your good graces, we’re going to offer you a free PC download game from the EA portfolio. On March 18, SimCity players who have activated their game will receive an email telling them how to redeem their free game."
Aside from offering the free game, Bradshaw detailed what EA has done to fix the server problems that plagued the launch. Bradshaw said that the company had increased server capacity by 120 percent in the space of 48 hours.
"It’s working – the number of people who have gotten in and built cities has improved dramatically. The number of disrupted experiences has dropped by roughly 80 percent."
This SimCity title is the sixth major release and is available for both Windows and Mac OS X.
Contact Us for News Tips, Corrections and Feedback
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
-
Shaun_Skip And Slowpoke Tom's Hardware strikes again.Reply
What is with you guys lately? You are really slow in keeping up to date, you never used to be. -
soo-nah-mee "We feel bad about your disappointment of your recent order of TURD. To make it up to you, we'd like to offer you a FREE TURD!"Reply -
janetonly42 You would have to pay me to take one of your titles EA then I would keep the cash and trash your game anyway.Reply -
janetonly42 Shaun_SkipAnd Slowpoke Tom's Hardware strikes again.What is with you guys lately? You are really slow in keeping up to date, you never used to be.Tom's went down the drain when it was taken over by Bestofmedia group, aka another big corporation.Reply -
retrophe " EA's Lucy Bradshaw, who is the general manager of the Maxis label . . ." is currently looking for other employment options before her current employment is terminated . . . .Reply -
L0tus EA is such a wonderful and customer-friendly company. Their quality games and excellent customer-relations fill me up with such mirth and merriment :DReply -
hragarand EA is in balance sheet and stock protection mode as they offer games from their portfolio versus cash refunds to customers who ordered Sim5. EA would rather provide a digital download of an existing title at a cost of a few dollars than a $50+ refund. Terrible customer service. Companies must delight their customers with service. When you delight customers with service you in turn delight stockholders with shareholder value.Reply -
Johmama Whoa, auto comment when you sign in? Sry for double postReply
1. Release a game with always-on DRM
2. People get outraged when your servers can't handle the new influx of users
3. Say you're increasing servers
4. Don't increase servers
5. People playing your game decreases, decreasing server load
6. Claim the newfound stability is because of those new servers you bought (but didn't)
7. Congratulations! You now look like you did something for your customer!