Publisher Electronic Arts is only just now getting SimCity fully operational. The urban-planning sim barely worked through the first few weeks following its launch due to high demand on EA’s servers. EA even decided to turn off one of the game’s most crucial features, Cheetah speed, which is the highest setting for the passage of time in SimCity.
Now, EA and developer Maxis are preparing to bring in more players as they plan to release SimCity for Mac on June 11. Mac players can purchase the metropolitan-building game through EA’s Origin download service. Alternatively, players that already bought the game for PC can simply download SimCity for their Mac for no extra charge.
This news comes only days after Maxis revealed that it was able to restore Cheetah speed. With that feature working and a whole new audience of gamers ready to come in on Apple’s computers, EA is apparently confident that its infrastructure can handle the demand.
Yes, it’s true — we’ve recently brought back Cheetah Speed. We’re also working on Update 2.0, so stay tuned for more info. #SimCity
— SimCity (@simcity) April 9, 2013
This is the first time since its March 5 release that SimCity is working as intended. That’s more than a month of crippled gameplay and server errors due to the game’s always-online requirement.
“Our launch woes are behind us, and the SimCity servers and service are now robust and stable,” an EA spokesperson told GamesBeat.
According to the tweet, the studio is also working on an update for the game that will bring it to version 2.0. It did not provide the details of that patch.