Stone Librande, Lead Designer at Maxis, has confirmed that SimCity will require an always on internet connection to play.

Confirming the news with Joystiq, Stone said that the constant internet connection, which would connect to EA servers through Origin, was necessary to emphasise the multiplayer as well a player’s impact on regional affairs and the game’s global economy. It was also confirmed that SimCity will be available for purchase through outlets other than Origin.

SimCity was announced at GDC and you can check the game engine behind SimCity here.

Update: SimCity will also not be supporting mods at launch, though the Glassbox engine has been modified so it could happen after release.

Ocean Quigley, Creative Director at Maxis, told Joystiq:

“Right now we’ve got our work cut out for us to build the product up to the quality level it deserves as a SimCity. Then after we ship, we’ll make decisions about how we can and when exactly we’ll support mods.

But it’s worth pointing out that the reason people are still playing SimCity 4 almost ten years later is because the modding community essentially re-created it and filled it with new content and fixed bugs and made it as much of a hobby as it is a game.”