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SimCity gets offline play mode. Finally.

A mere ten months after launch, Maxis confirms that offline play will be included in the next SimCity update.

Nic Healey Senior Editor / Australia
Nic Healey is a Senior Editor with CNET, based in the Australia office. His passions include bourbon, video games and boring strangers with photos of his cat.
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Nic Healey

It's official: SimCity will finally get an offline mode, allowing you to play the city-building game without needing an internet connection.

(Credit: EA)

Patrick Buechner, general manager of Maxis, took to the SimCity official blog to confirm that the next game update would include the offline mode.

When the game launched in March last year, it was beset with difficulties, many revolving around the required internet connection. The title even 'won' a Shonky Award from Choice in October 2013. The option for offline play was much-requested by users, although EA nixed the request, saying that it would be too difficult to implement and would require big changes to the game architecture.

Buechner wrote:

What's new is the Single Player Mode, which allows you to play the game offline by yourself. And because your saved games in this mode are stored locally, you can save and load to your heart's content. Our team will be delivering a follow-up blog that will outline the full details in the near future so stay tuned.

There is currently no official date for when the update will be available.