EA “confident” in Origin stability for SimCity European launch tomorrow; issues are “frustrating” for Maxis

Origin, yesterday.

“We are experiencing overwhelming demand which is keeping some users from accessing their games,” shouted the publisher above the industrial metal din of machines exploding.

“We’re working as fast as we can to resolve. Due to the high demand for SimCity, Origin has experienced delays impacting a small percentage of users. We’re working non-stop to resolve.

“We’re making changes to prevent further issues, and are confident that Origin will be stable for international launches later this week.”

If you’d grabbed ten strangers in the street last week and asked them about SimCity’s launch day, they’d have uniformly told you that demand would be higher than a housefly in a hash pipe. That’s one reason to grumble. Another is that pre-loading, now a staple of Steam pre-purchasing and acknowledged to be “very important” by EA, has been notably absent here.

Developers Maxis are grumbling too, over on the Sim City Reddit:

“From a developer standpoint it's frustrating to know that some players aren't enjoying the game you spent so long working on,” they wrote. “The team is working extremely hard to fix these issues, and all we ask for is patience while these problems get resolved.”

It’s a terrible shame for everybody involved that for a significant minority, a clearly brilliant game has thus far been crippled by everything a ‘service’ shouldn’t be. Here’s a question: if the poster boy for the social features and benefits that can come with an always-online requirement can’t get it right, how can we expect better from anybody else in the future?

Thanks, RPS.