Patrick Buechner discusses the progress of SimCity and what may happen next.

Today we look at an letter from General Manager Patrick Buechner, detailing the current "State of SimCity". Buechner's article is a post-launch breakdown that discusses what Maxis has worked on since release. In the letter, Buechner reassures the community that the SimCity team is constantly on the lookout for ways to improve the SimCity experience.

He talks in the letter about the games' "seven major updates in the last seven months" which includes raised/lowered roads and occasional free content. It was also mentioned that Maxis has been looking into user-generated content (modding) and an offline mode, as long as they don't affect the experience of others. This is all excellent news, but there's one problem...

The Heartbreaker
Maxis has one-and-for-all declared that larger maps are an absolute no-go. Since release, the community has clamored for a bigger map size. Maxis claim they've tried to make it happen for months and that it's simply not a possibility. People are now expressing considerable disappointment, and we can't really blame them.

Overall, it's genuinely great to hear that Maxis has been working hard on SimCity. It's nice to see them rebound after a rocky launch. The new problem is the reopened wound about limited map sizes, a fact that currently seems to eclipse the rest of its success. We'll continue to keep a close eye on where SimCity and its upcoming expansion pack, Cities of Tomorrow, goes from here.

Colt "ShdwFlm" Casey
Deputy Editor