Maxis: SimCity always-online DRM is for gamers' benefit

[garyopa]

Necessary for running the game 'properly'...



Maxis has explained the use of SimCity's always-on DRM; the game 'was designed to be connected from the ground up'.

In a blog entry, Maxis senior vice president Lucy Bradshaw responded to the negative feedback regarding the upcoming SimCity reboot's always-on DRM.

According to her, the game "was designed to be connected from the ground up," and the simulation requires access to EA's servers in order to properly handle all computing information.

Bradshaw said a "massive amount of computing" goes into this, and the game's Glassbox engine can only achieve these tasks through a constant Internet connection.

"You’re always connected to the neighbors in your region so while you play, data from your city interacts with our servers, and we run the simulation at a regional scale," she said.

More specifically, trading between cities and simulation effects like pollution and crime, are processed on EA's servers and then data is sent back to players' cities on their local PC. "Every city in the region is updated every three minutes, which keeps the overall region in sync and makes your decisions in your city relevant to any changes that have taken place in the region," she said.

Bradshaw added that SimCity requiring a constant Internet connection is in the best interest of "fun." She explained that features like leaderboards and challenges would not be possible without being online.

So, there you have it. If you are interested on the game, you'll have to deal with its always-on DRM.

The new SimCity is due out on Mac and PC on March 5, 2013.

NEWS SOURCE #1: Maxis Simcity's always-on-drm for gamers benefit (via) GameSpot
NEWS SOURCE #2: Maxis says Simcity always-on-drm necessary for running properly EA (via) PolyGon

Our thanks to 'Gauss' for this news item!

[Captain N1]

ok Maxis(EA) how is you telling me whne to stop playing the game in say 10 years a good thing for me?
how is always online DRM good for me when your servers are not on. DUMBasses

[Nicotine]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand ea kills another good franchise.

[billysastard]

ok Maxis(EA) how is you telling me whne to stop playing the game in say 10 years a good thing for me?
how is always online DRM good for me when your servers are not on. DUMBasses

10 years? this is ea, you'll be lucky for 2 years.