SimCity’s ruinous launch will at least end in a free game for any player who activates the city-building title before March 25.
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EA just sent the following email to its registered SimCity owners:
Our SimCity Mayors are incredibly important to the team at Maxis. We know we messed up and want to sincerely thank you for staying with us. The good news is we have solved most of the major issues and players are really enjoying the game. We’re getting great feedback from our fans and know that many of you are having fun and are exploring this whole new expression of SimCity.
As a small token of our appreciation, we are offering you a free EA PC game download on Origin. Mayors who have authenticated their copy of SimCity on Origin by March 25 can select a free game through a redemption portal inside the Origin desktop client later this week. We’ll be opening up the redemption portal country-by-country so some of you may see it a little sooner than others. The portal will be live worldwide for everyone to select their game by March 22.
Players can choose any one of the following:
- Battlefield 3 (Standard Edition)
- Bejeweled 3
- Dead Space 3 (Standard Edition)
- Mass Effect 3 (Standard Edition)
- Medal of Honor: Warfighter (Standard Edition)
- Need For Speed: Most Wanted (Standard Edition)
- Plants vs. Zombies
- SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition
While EA is positioning this as a conciliatory gesture, it comes across a bit like another opportunity to promote the publisher’s franchises. Had EA allowed customers to choose between one of these games or a refund, many gamers might more willingly forgive the company.