Legendary game developer and original SimCity creator had some stern words for EA and Maxis, calling their handling of the latest SimCity's train wreck of a launch "inexcusable." At the top of his criticisms was the game's always-on requirement.
“I could have predicted – I kind of did predict there'd be a big backlash about the DRM stuff," Wright, who had no role in developing the latest SimCity, told Games Industry. "It's a good game; I enjoy playing it a lot.
“It was kind of like, 'EA is the evil empire, there was a lot of ‘Let’s bash EA over it’. That was basically inexcusable, that you charge somebody $60 for a game and they can’t play it. I can understand the outrage. If I was a consumer buying the game and that happened to me, I’d feel the same.”
"I think people care if it doesn't work," he continued. "If you can't play it on planes, stuff like that… I think there are some very valid concerns about it. Also there's a perception; I don't expect to play World of Warcraft on the airplane, because my perception is it has to be on the 'Net. SimCity was in this very uncomfortable space, like the uncanny valley, almost; [it was caught] between was it a single player game or was it a multiplayer game?"
