'SimCity' owners to get free game after launch woes

Brett Molina, USA TODAY | USATODAY

Owners of the city-building simulation SimCity will receive a free Electronic Arts title as compensation for severe connection woes that have rendered the game unplayable for many users.

In a statement posted to EA's website, Lucy Bradshaw, the general manager of studio Maxis, says slow load times and connectivity issues were caused by servers overwhelmed with online players.

"A lot more people logged on than we expected," says Bradshaw. "More people played and played in ways we never saw in the beta. OK, we agree, that was dumb, but we are committed to fixing it."

Bradshaw adds server issues have "improved significantly" since the studio beefed up capacity to deal with the large number of players attempting to log on.

SimCIty has suffered through major technical issues since its launch Tuesday, with players struggling to connect and begin creating and managing their digital cities.

Unlike previous versions of SimCity, this year's version requires players to stay connected online at all times, even during the single-player portion.

On March 18, players who have activated their copies of SimCity will receive details via email on how to redeem their free EA game, which will be available in digital format.

"I know that's a little contrived – kind of like buying a present for a friend after you did something crummy," says Bradshaw. "But we feel bad about what happened. We're hoping you won't stay mad and that we'll be friends again when SimCity is running at 100 percent."