Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

EA finds out how fast you can destroy a city in one hour SimCity beta tests

Anthony John Agnello
By
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Get ready to run your virtual city right into the ground next week, as Electronic Arts and Maxis are ready to throw open the gates to SimCity, the 2013 resurrection of Will Wright’s seminal simulation game. The game isn’t due out until Mar. 5, but Electronic Arts is ready to begin the thorny process of testing the game’s boundaries, looking for glitches and attempting to balance its internal systems to prepare for the flood of players that will sign online to the game this spring. To that end, EA is holding a public beta test for SimCity. If you want to build in January, here’s your chance.

Starting Friday and ending Monday, EA is accepting applications to participate in a public beta test for SimCity. The testing itself will take place between Jan. 25 and Jan. 28.

Recommended Videos

“It is always an exciting moment to share a game that is still in development with its fans prior to launch,” said Maxis VP Lucy Bradshaw in an EA press release, “This beta will help the team improve the live service aspects of SimCity to ensure a smooth and user-friendly experience at launch.”

What Bradshaw doesn’t mention is that this test will also acclimate many of SimCity’s most diehard fans to some of the new restrictions present in the update to the series. SimCity will, unlike previous entries in the series, require a persistent internet connection to play. In fact, players won’t even be able to save their game without maintaining a connection to EA’s servers. The live service referenced by Bradshaw pertains to how well EA is going to be able to navigate the troublesome aspects of games with persistent connections. Blizzard’s Diablo 3 went through years of beta testing before releasing in May 2012, yet that game still suffered myriad networking issues under the strain of millions of players connecting to servers simultanously.

Would be city planners that plan to apply for a position in the test should also temper their expectations since EA is severely limiting how much time players will have in the game. Each test session lasts just one hour. SimCity simulations are regularly carried out for far more time than that, but the beta test isn’t a tool for gathering feedback on game quality. It’s a stress test.

Players can sign up for the test here.

Anthony John Agnello
Anthony John Agnello
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…
Nintendo Switch 2: release date rumors, features we want, and more
Prime Day Nintendo Switch Deals

Rumors of a Nintendo Switch 2 (or Switch Pro) have been circulating for years. Whispers of the next-gen Nintendo console first started when The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was initially teased in 2019, gained steam when the Switch OLED launched in 2021, and are increasing now that the standard Switch has been out for six years.

There's no doubt that the Nintendo Switch is a fantastic console -- it has a unique and impressive game library (with more upcoming games slated for this year), the number of features included with Nintendo Switch Online is constantly improving, and it's still our favorite portable console -- but it isn't without its flaws. There's enough room for improvement to warrant an entirely new console in the near future. Nintendo recently announced that we wouldn't see a Switch upgrade in the next fiscal year, meaning the absolute earliest we get a look at a new Nintendo console would be in late 2024.

Read more
Is Manor Lords cross-platform?
Two armies clash in Manor Lords.

Building and managing your own medieval utopia is a lonely job. Sure, you have a population of citizens to grow and order around, but they can't compare with another actual human player. At least at launch, Manor Lords is a PC exclusive, and it's also going to be coming to Xbox consoles as well so even more people can get in on the city-building fun. We can expect basically any modern game to allow for cross-platform play, but what if Manor Lords is stuck in the Middle Ages? Here's everything you need to know about cross-platform support for the latest and greatest management simulator.
Is Manor Lords cross-platform?
Without beating around the bush, no, Manor Lords has no cross-platform support. Even when the game is available on Steam, PC Game Pass, and Xbox consoles, there will be no way to play with others on different platforms. In fact, you can't play with people on the same platform, either. Manor Lords has no multiplayer component whatsoever -- either co-op or competitive -- so there's no reason for this feature to be included.

Sadly, you shouldn't expect any multiplayer to come to the game later. A developer released an FAQ prior to the game's launch and responded to a question regarding multiplayer, stating: "The focus is on a refined single-player experience, with no multiplayer or cooperative modes planned at the moment."

Read more
How to increase your approval rating in Manor Lords
A medieval market in Manor Lords.

Building your population in Manor Lords is one thing, but making sure they want to stick around and continue to grow is the real challenge. You could have the ideal design for a village, or the perfect tactical mind for conquering the entire map, but if your approval rating is too low, you won't survive your first winter.

Happy people are the grease that makes your kingdom an efficient machine, but what is it that people value? It can be hard to tell at times why your approval rating isn't going up, or worse going down while playing your first few games. We've zoomed in on all our citizens to learn exactly what you need to do to increase your approval rating.

Read more