‘SimCity’ Players Getting Free PC Game Thanks To Server Issues

SimCity players are going to be offered a free PC game as a way to try and tamp down the anger that has erupted over the server issues. Long waits have been the norm since the game launched on Tuesday and until now there hasn’t been a whole lot of acknowledgement that people gave been infuriated.

Electronics Arts has seemingly gone out of its way to further annoy gamers by refusing to issue refunds and even threatening those who attempt to dispute charges through their banks. The developer, Maxis has apparently decided that you get more bees with honey and has issued apologies and free games.

Maxis issued a statement on the EA blog that admitted that the company had made several mistakes. SimCity simply drew more people than they had expected and while they admitted it was “dumb” they have been working hard to get people up and running.

EA and Maxis had taken steps to make sure more the load on the servers was eased by turning off some of the in-game features such as “cheetah speed.” The companies have also worked to increase server capacity by 120 percent and that has seemingly helped with the problem.

While the server issues are starting to be fixed, there are still thousands, if not millions of gamers that have spent the last four days trying and failing to enjoy their copies of the game. That is why Maxis has offered up a selection of games from EA’s stable.

People who have activated their copy of SimCity will be able to redeem the offer for a free game on March 18. Maxis says that those who have the title will receive an email closer to March 18 telling them exactly which games they can choose from and how to get their free game.

Maxis spokesperson Lucy Bradshaw admitted this was a bit of a “contrivance” but she hoped it would allow the game makers and the game players to “stay friends.”

Will these actions make you more likely to try SimCity?