Did you love the way EA took The Sims franchise and turned it into an opportunity for you to buy $5 digital toilets? I sure hope so, because Sim City 5 is headed in precisely the same direction, as evidenced by page nine of a leaked user manual.
Sim City 5 User Manual Leak Confirms In Game Store
Can You Play Sim City 5 Offline?
Gamers Smolder For Offline Capabilities
NO!
Need that a little louder?
NO
As part of EA’s ongoing mission to destroy games as we know them, it has been decided that Sim City 5 will require an always on internet connection. Not only that, but it will also save your games to the cloud. In other words, if a beaver chews through the internet cables near your home – or, god forbid, you leave the house and travel somewhere without wi-fi, you can’t play your game.
EA is, of course, pretending that the ‘always online’ requirement isn’t dystopian DRM at its worst, rather it’s a feature. The feature being that you can play online. With friends. As long as their internet connection stays stable.
You will not be able to save your Sim City 5 cities unless you are online. Which is okay, because you won’t be able to play them unless you’re online.
Oh and it will likely be Origin only, EA’s super hackable attempt to emulate Valve’s success with Steam, without any of the charm, goodwill, or basic account security that Steam provides.
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