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Reviewers are right to have been taking server instability issues into account when scoring SimCity, Maxis general manager Lucy Bradshaw has said in an email sent to staff and acquired by Polygon.
“I’ll start by saying that I couldn’t be more proud of SimCity and the Maxis team that made it and are supporting it,” explained the email. “The game launched with great reviews from both new critics and the veterans who have loved this franchise for so many years. SimCity is a software achievement that everyone at Maxis is extremely proud of. I am also thankful for all of the hard work put in by our marketing, EA Global Publishing and Origin teams, which drove very strong Day One performance around world.
“Then we launched it.”
Whilst more than 700,000 cities were created in 24 hours, it’s the server issues which hit the headlines.
“The rollout in North America has been challenging,” said Bradshaw. “It’s also now evident that players across Europe and Asia are experiencing the same frustration.”
Maxis is now doing all it can to “quickly and dramatically increase the number and stability of our servers and with that, the number of players who can simultaneously access the game”.
Bradshaw added that media coverage and reduced review scores are fair.
“I’d like to say that it’s not fair – that the game score shouldn’t be punished for a server problem. But it is fair,” she wrote.
“SimCity is an online game and critics and consumers have every right to expect a smooth experience from beginning to end. I and the Maxis team take full responsibility to deliver on our promise.”
Bradshaw concluded: “Trust that we’re working as hard as possible to make sure everyone gets to experience the amazing game we built in SimCity.”
Source: Polygon
