EA boasts: SimCity sells over 1.1 million units

Given the incredibly volatile launch SimCity has experienced, you'd think that Electronic Arts would wait before issuing a press release about the game's sales figures. But, no. Here we go.

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Given the incredibly volatile launch SimCity has experienced, you'd think that Electronic Arts would wait before issuing a press release about the game's sales figures. With EA woefully unprepared for the game's demand, perhaps it would have been best to wait until after players have redeemed their compensatory games before sounding the trumpets.

But, no. Here we go.

EA has announced that SimCity has sold through more than 1.1 million units in the first two weeks of sale, "making this the biggest SimCity launch of all time." According to EA, more than half of those copies were sold through Origin and other digital download services.

"SimCity had a great weekend with sales strong across both North America and Europe, adding to overwhelming demand at launch that has us tracking well beyond expectations for the game," EA COO Peter Moore said in the press release. According to Maxis' Lucy Bradshaw, EA expected half the demand at launch.

At the very least, EA's press release does acknowledge some of the game's launch issues, noting that server capacity has been increased by "more than 400%," and that server response time has been "optimized by 40 times."

With EA's free game promo lasting until next week, there's a good chance that SimCity sales may rocket even further. With recent games like Dead Space 3 included in the promo, some may jump at the opportunity to pay $60 for not one--but two--games.

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    March 18, 2013 12:00 PM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, EA boasts: SimCity sells over 1.1 million units.

    Given the incredibly volatile launch SimCity has experienced, you'd think that Electronic Arts would wait before issuing a press release about the game's sales figures. But, no. Here we go.

    • reply
      March 18, 2013 12:07 PM

      That's not an impressive number for a new SimCity game, not at all.

      • reply
        March 18, 2013 12:08 PM

        [deleted]

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          March 18, 2013 3:21 PM

          lol explains why they basically phoned it in.

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        March 18, 2013 12:32 PM

        How many SC4 units were sold?

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          March 18, 2013 12:48 PM

          There's no numbers for it. I went looking but don't see -anything- for their sales targets.

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            March 18, 2013 1:21 PM

            Right, so how are we able to say 'not impressive for a new simcity game'. Whats the benchmark?

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              March 20, 2013 2:21 AM

              General game sales numbers and the size of the modern industry. Comparing it to SC4 figures would be meaningless, as SC4 came out at a time when the entire industry was vastly smaller. SC5's sales figures definitely overshadow SC5's without breaking a sweat. That doesn't make it a success by today's standards or with today's budgets. A figure of 1 million sales is not that much in today's industry.

              • reply
                March 20, 2013 2:24 AM

                In fact, 1 million is barely the break even point for a lot of AAA titles.

      • reply
        March 18, 2013 5:52 PM

        [deleted]

        • reply
          March 20, 2013 2:21 AM

          Lol, of course it is. That doesn't mean anything. Haha, do you know how many years its been since ok SC4 was released?

    • reply
      March 18, 2013 12:12 PM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      March 18, 2013 12:15 PM

      1.1m people bought the game. That means you can turn the online requirement off now EA, you beat the pirates.

      • reply
        March 18, 2013 5:39 PM

        pff no we need to extract more $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

    • reply
      March 18, 2013 12:20 PM


      that's like saying Transformers was a fantastic movie cuz it made millions in the box office. Then Michael Bay throwing a middle finger to the critics.

      • reply
        March 18, 2013 1:12 PM

        Not cool bro, Transformers is in all factuality one of the greatest movies ever made. Similar to evolution, the greatness that is Transformers is all but proven fact, and while dissenters are free to reject this statement of truth, it's perfection stands irrefutable and absolute as it's actuality is transcendent of the judgement of mortals. Our praise is merely a transcription of reality, and our dissent is akin to refuting the blueness of the sky. While iconoclasts may transgress, the paragon persists regardless of our fallible perception of it.

        The sequels are debatably bad tho.

        • reply
          March 18, 2013 1:53 PM

          what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

          • reply
            March 18, 2013 2:23 PM

            You copied those lines directly from a meme, at least I get points for originality.

            • reply
              March 18, 2013 3:00 PM

              He copied it directly from a film.

            • reply
              March 18, 2013 9:48 PM

              wasn't trying to be original, it's a quote from Adam Sandlers Billy Madison, it's not a meme. As a film fan I enjoy quoting from movies, there's nothing wrong with that if it applies and is humorous. It's not my fault you don't know movies and didn't get the reference. but those that did found it amusing I assure you.

        • reply
          March 18, 2013 3:00 PM

          I object! Replace Transformers with other well received movies that actually make the art of story telling, film direction and the connection between the audience a bar above the rest and contested. Transformers is like the monster/redbull of movies. Instant gratification followed by a mad rush to the bathroom.


          Citizen Kane?
          Lawrence of Arabia?
          Casa Blanca?
          Debbie does Dallas
          Hunt for the Red October?
          Schindler's List?
          Wyatt Earp?
          Tombstone?

          That's a start! ;)

          • reply
            March 18, 2013 3:39 PM

            Well, I suppose you could say that those films are transcendent of mortal perception as well. Perhaps they're on a higher plane of existence of classical appreciation, while Transformers is on a plane of nonstop antics and adrenaline.

            • reply
              March 18, 2013 3:54 PM

              Where would Tommy Boy fall into?

              • reply
                March 18, 2013 4:08 PM

                You say something bad about Tommy Boy, Black Sheep, or Joe Dirt, and we gon' have a problem.

              • reply
                March 18, 2013 4:24 PM

                I'm afraid the only film through which I have achieved true nirvana is Transformers, classifying any other movie would only be conjecture.

                • reply
                  March 19, 2013 9:11 AM

                  Ever see the RedLetterMedia.com reviews of films? Might change your mind on Michael Bay/movies/life.

          • reply
            March 18, 2013 4:19 PM

            whereas debbie does dallas is just instant gratification sans mad rushes!

            • reply
              March 18, 2013 7:23 PM

              Or with mad rushes if you get my drift.

              *wink*wink*

        • reply
          March 18, 2013 5:43 PM

          i would have walked out on that pile of shit if i wasn't there with 8 other people

        • reply
          March 18, 2013 6:38 PM

          [deleted]

    • reply
      March 18, 2013 12:29 PM

      Ok, I guess they're a bit... Convinced that a free game will make people stop bitching enough that this press release will get them some good buzz going.

      Once again, EA PR needs to get slapped on the head.

    • reply
      March 18, 2013 12:38 PM

      Bought the game 2 days after launch, haven't had any problems playing it. It does feel sadly dumbed down, and AI pathfinding is annoying (apparently getting a fix soon), and its apparently very hard to go broke.

      I don't regret buying it, but I don't think I'll play it anywhere near as much as previous titles, and I wouldn't recommend it to others without a lot of caveats.

      • reply
        March 18, 2013 1:07 PM

        what are you doing here, don't you know SimCity threads are only for those who haven't played the game?

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      March 18, 2013 12:44 PM

      that's fewer than I expected given the difficulties they've had

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      March 18, 2013 1:50 PM

      1 million people hammering EA's server vs. 10million people hammering blizzard's servers. I suddenly don't feel so bad about diablo 3 anymore.

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      March 18, 2013 1:54 PM

      and I wonder how many they anticipated based on preorders to judge server capacity :D :D :D

    • reply
      March 18, 2013 3:13 PM

      I'm more curious to see the figures in the long run.

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      March 18, 2013 4:05 PM

      Somewhere, deep in EA towers, an accountant is typing up a report stating that SimCity was shared relatively infrequently over torrents and they're poised to make more money than expected.

    • reply
      March 18, 2013 4:09 PM

      lol, the CEO is gone. http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2013/03/18/10050/

      • reply
        March 18, 2013 4:44 PM

        Oh, wow, that escalated quickly.

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      March 18, 2013 4:34 PM

      Not getting my money till it's 7.49 you ass lickers.

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      March 18, 2013 4:53 PM

      Curious if this includes returns... I doubt it, but I bet returns are about 5-10% of this if not more. (Returned my copy on Amazon hastle free)

    • ArB legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
      reply
      March 18, 2013 5:22 PM

      The free dead space 3 kind of made it worthwhile.

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        March 18, 2013 6:37 PM

        that's hilarious.

        EA: "Sorry for the messed up launch, we'll give you guys a free game to make it up."

        Gamers: "yeah probably like C&C Renegade or The Sims so they can sell us more DLC olololol EA suxxx"

        (1 week later)

        EA: "Thanks for your patience. Actually you can pick between Battlefield 3, Mass Effect 3, Dead Space 3 (just released!), among others."

        EA: "Oh and by the way we sold 1.1 million copies of SimCity, w/ 15 million hours played in two weeks."

        Gamers: "The free dead space 3 kind of made it worthwhile."


        ... Yeah because everyone who bought SimCity knew they'd be getting Dead Space 3 for free! Nevermind that they announced those sales numbers within hours of offering the free games. What kind of assbackwards logic is that?

        Whatever EA/Maxis do, they can't win. I think they've been making all the right moves with quadrupling the number of servers, keeping us in the loop with daily blog updates, etc. All I see in response is more snarky bullshit, it's getting old.

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          March 18, 2013 6:46 PM

          I like how you typed up this whole fake chat log

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          March 18, 2013 6:51 PM

          I don't even want a free game, I want the game that was advertised and sold to me to be working with all features enabled.

          Right now it's still not even close to 100% two weeks later. Since you are being kept in the loop apparently, when is cheetah speed coming back? When are regional students going to attend my university? When can I share recycling trucks again with it breaking my plants down? When is the global market coming back online? When is tourism going to be viable? When will great works be in sync within a region so I don't keep sending resources to a void and losing them for no reason? When are my cities going to stop rolling back and losing progress?

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          March 18, 2013 7:05 PM

          "Whatever EA/Maxis do, they can't win"

          Oh. Those poor sods. I bet they'll just pack it in now. Because we know they take customer satisfaction seriously and don't just start pumping out expansions.

          I mean really? We know they don't honestly care about any of this and that's part of the problem. People should put the money elsewhere imo. Books, music, indie games, anything... but if you really want to prop up some 60-year-old investor's shitty schemes in the gaming market, I just have to ask what you even like about gaming.

        • ArB legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
          reply
          March 18, 2013 7:07 PM

          I actually think SimCity is a good game. It has some problems, but they can be fixed. I didn't buy it expecting to get another game I wanted.

        • reply
          March 18, 2013 7:25 PM

          [deleted]

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          March 18, 2013 10:24 PM

          Sure they can win. They can patch in an optional offline mode.

    • reply
      March 18, 2013 7:18 PM

      So how many MORE people would have bought it with solid post release buzz? I know I would have, hell I was even contemplating installing origin for it.

      • reply
        March 18, 2013 7:27 PM

        If they fixed the always on drm shit and I could play locally, I would have bought it.

    • reply
      March 18, 2013 7:26 PM

      That's 1.1 million pissed off people.

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