The disastrous mess that is SimCity’s launch continues into a fourth day today.
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Reviews have also cooled off considerably since its Tuesday launch. The Metacritic average, which was at an even 90, dropped to a 79 today. Maxis general manager Lucy Bradshaw thinks that’s fair, according to a memo that Polygon obtained.
“I’d like to say that it’s not fair — that the game score shouldn’t be punished for a server problem,” Bradshaw wrote to employees of Maxis. “But it is fair. SimCity is an online game, and critics and consumers have every right to expect a smooth experience from beginning to end. I and the Maxis team take full responsibility to deliver on our promise.”
According to the letter, players built over 700,000 cities in the first 24 hours. That demand repreatedly crashed the required network infrastructure.
“Maxis is working 24/7 to deliver on our promise,” said Bradshaw.
That includes the aforementioned extra servers. Last night, three new servers appeared in the browser. This came after Maxis shut down some in-game features to improve performance. The developer shut off leaderboards, achievements, and even the fastest speed setting.