SimCity Offline Mode To Arrive With Update 10

Back in October, we heard rumbles that an offline mode for SimCity was being considered, something that followed multiple botched launches and has been much-requested by gamers. Today in a blog post, Maxis' Emeryville studio general manager Patrick Buechner announced an offline mode will indeed be arriving soon for all SimCity players, breaking the shackles of you-must-have-an-Internet-connection.

The first sign of a possible offline mode was seen back in March 2013, when server issues and other problems plagued the game. On the SimCity Twitter account, a tweet had been sent out saying that no offline mode was planned any time soon, but was being looked into "as part of our earning back your trust efforts." In October, Buechner had announced that a "specifically focused" team was tasked with looking into the feasibility of an offline mode for the game, though no promises or timeline was provided.

According to the revelation today, the offline mode will be coming as a free option with update 10 to all who play the game, with all previously downloaded content being available under it. The development is still being wrapped up at the moment, but it is promised the company is making "sure that it's as polished as possible before we release it," with ample testing going on.

The offline mode in coming in the form of Single Player Mode, with the games under this being saved locally (obviously). Beyond this, the rest of the details are promised to be forthcoming in a future status update, though modders are being prodded with the implications of the offline mode already. Are you excited about the upcoming change, or nervous this will cause another spat of chaos?

SOURCE: SimCity