Key Highlights:
- Maxis will hold a closed SimCity PC beta from 25 to 28 January 2013.
- Selected players can access a one-hour section of the city-building game through Origin.
- The beta will test SimCity’s online systems before its March 2013 release.
Maxis will hold a closed PC beta for SimCity from 25 to 28 January 2013, giving selected players an early opportunity to test the city-building reboot.
The beta begins at 5pm GMT on 25 January and ends at approximately 8am GMT on 28 January. Registration closes at 2am GMT on 21 January, although signing up does not guarantee access.
Participants will receive a one-hour section of SimCity rather than unrestricted access to the complete game. Players can build and manage a city while providing feedback directly to the development team.
The beta requires an Origin account, the Origin client and a continuous internet connection. Maxis is using the event to test the online systems that connect cities within shared regions.
SimCity uses the GlassBox engine to simulate individual residents, vehicles, resources and utilities. Its connected regional design allows neighbouring cities to trade resources, share services and affect each other through factors such as employment and pollution.
The January test was followed by another closed beta event in February. Both tests took place before SimCity launched for Windows PC in March 2013.
Despite the pre-release testing, SimCity experienced major server problems after launch. Some players struggled to connect, faced lengthy queues or lost access to cities while EA and Maxis increased server capacity.
The troubled launch made SimCity’s mandatory online connection one of the game’s most controversial features. Maxis eventually added an offline Single-Player Mode through Update 10 in March 2014.
The beta therefore provided an early test of the same connected infrastructure that later became central to SimCity’s launch problems.
The beta dates, one-hour restriction and technical requirements were documented by EA before the event. The later launch problems and EA’s response are also well established.
