It's taken almost a full year, but SimCity is finally getting an offline mode. Over on the Maxis blog, general manager Patrick Buechner revealed offline will be coming as a free download with Update 10 to all players.
Going into detail, Buechner confirmed that all of your previously downloaded content will be available to you "anytime, anywhere," without needing internet connection. Offline mode is currently in the "late phases" of development, but the developer hopes to get it out as soon as possible.
"In Update 10, you can still play solo in Regions on your own, or in Multiplayer with people from around the world. What’s new is the Single Player Mode, which allows you to play the game Offline by yourself," Buechner explained. "And because your saved games in this mode are stored locally, you can save and load to your heart’s content. Our team will be delivering a follow-up blog that will outline the full details in the near future so stay tuned."
"So what does this mean for the Online game? All of the benefits of being connected will remain including access to Multiplayer, the Global Market and Leaderboards. And all of your pre-existing saved cities and regions will still be accessible should you log-in to the Online game," he added.
SimCity was released in March 2013 and much the displeasure of its fanbase, it required players to connect to the internet to play. During the game's launch, players' fears came true when SimCity's servers buckled under the launch pressure. The result was one of the worst launches of 2013 that ultimately resulted in EA giving away a free game to anyone who purchased SimCity. Though Maxis admitted offline mode was possible, they and EA defended the decision to launch SimCity as an online game.
Whatever the case, SimCity is finally getting the mode we've all waited for. Better late than never, right?
