SimCity requires an always-on Internet connection to one of the city-building title’s many servers to play. That functionality has caused all kinds of problems following the game’s March 5 launch.
Now, developer Maxis has released a tool on its website that you can use to check the status of your favorite servers. Previously, you had to boot up SimCity to see if it would let you access your cities.
The tool will indicate if a server is available, down, busy, or full for new players.
Maxis spent every day since launch trying to get connectivity working properly. The first few days following SimCity’s debut were the worst. Would-be city designers couldn’t even download the game. Those who could install SimCity struggled to reach the servers. To deal with the demand, Maxis shut down some features, like leaderboards and Achievements. Once players started getting online, SimCity would often crash and fail to save what they had built.
The developer has more than doubled the number of available servers. It has also upgraded the software to better handle a larger number of players.