A post by EA on Facebook today reads:

The decision to retire older EA games is never an easy one to make but in order to re-allocate servers and resources to more popular titles we are removing SimCity Social from Facebook. Players who still have a balance of in-game currency are encouraged to spend it before the game is shut down on 14th June and is no longer available for play.

What? Yes, you heard right. EA is closing down SimCity Social after a mere year on the scene despite millions of users.

Why? Read on to find out.

Why SimCity Social is Closing Down: It’s All About The Money

EA makes games for profit. If a game is making them money, players are happy and EA is happy. If a game is not making them money, it doesn’t matter if the players are happy or not. This is just the way the gaming business works.

But isn’t SimCity Social making money? What are the in-game purchases and advertisements doing if not lining EA’s pockets?

SimCity Social is most definitely bringing in some serious revenue (probably USD rather than Simoleons). Advertisers will pay you big bucks to put ads in front of over 1 million users. And the in-game “diamonds” that are for sale — they are fictional. Selling “diamonds” is pure profit for EA.

Overhead Costs

Just because EA is making some money doesn’t mean they are making enough money.

Running the servers to power an online game like SimCity Social for millions of players can get pricey.

Opportunity Costs

Even if SimCity Social is profitable, it may not be as profitable for EA as other projects are… such as the SimCity PC game that just came out. If EA is in it for the money (which they are) it doesn’t make sense to keep doing something that will make you less money than you could be making with something else.

Why can’t they just keep the game running and just not make anymore updates?

EA can’t use the same resources simultaneously for the same projects. Any computing power that’s going to SimCity Social is computing power that is not going to the SimCity PC game (which has had enough server problems already) or to any other EA project that might be more lucrative.

Also, they would still have to pay for the energy costs of running the servers as well as the staff to make sure that the game kept running properly.

EA has decided that this is too much — SimCity Social is closing down.

Yet, that Leaves a Lot of Questions

Here is an excerpt from the FAQ page on the SimCity Social PlayFish forum:

What is happening to SimCity Social on Facebook?

On June 14th SimCity Social will be retiring on Facebook which means the game will no longer be available for play.

Why is SimCity Social being retired?

We had to make the difficult decision to close down SimCity Social so we can reallocate development resources to other titles that we hope you’ll have just as much fun playing. We hope you have gotten many hours of enjoyment out of the games and we thank you for everything you’ve added to the community.

When will SimCity Social be retired and no longer available for play?

As of June 14th, SimCity Social on Facebook will no longer be available to play.

Who will this affect?

Players of SimCity Social.

What can I play now?

EA offers a variety of other fun and free games for you to try. As valued players, we plan on offering you something to show our appreciation. Over the next few days, keep an eye on this post where we’ll announce a special offer to thank you for playing our game.

What if I have an existing balance of Diamonds in SimCity Social on Facebook?

Players are encouraged to spend their remaining balance of Diamonds in SimCity Social before the game is retired on June 14th. As of that date, any remaining Diamonds left in the game will be invalid.

What if I have a Playfish cash card I have not redeemed?

Players are encouraged to redeem and spend their Playfish cash cards before the game is retired on June 14th. After that date, you will need to contact customer service regarding your Playfish cash cards.

Please go to Help.ea.com and select Contact Us to contact Customer Service.

What will happen to the forums for SimCity Social?

The forums will be officially closed and taken offline on June 14th

The announcement on Facebook has already drawn over a thousand comments, mostly of players like us complaining about how this is the only game they liked on Facebook and about how EA is stealing our money since we paid them for in-game items.

But is this really an unfair thing for EA to do?

Share how you feel in the comments below.