When Simcity was first released a lot of players asked why it was an online-only game, questioning if this was really best for the play experience. EA answered this by saying that the way the game was designed and programmed meant that it wouldn’t work in offline mode. This didn’t stop fans asking for an offline mode though, and when modders proved that EA hadn’t been truthful with their statement about the game not working offline, they were forced to admit it hadn’t been part of the ‘vision’ for Simcity. Then Maxis said back in October that offline play was being considered. Now it’s finally been officially confirmed: Simcity is getting that offline mode that many say should have been there from the beginning.

In a post on the Maxis blog general manager Patrick Buechner reveals that Update 10 will bring offline to the game, a free download that will allow players to keep access to their previously downloaded content without the need for a connection. It will allow for play solo in regions or in a new single player mode with save files being stored locally to be loaded up and continued wherever, whenever the player wants. The leaderboards and global market will still be tied to the online play though.

“We are in the late phases of wrapping up its development and while we want to get it into your hands as soon as possible, our priority is to make sure that it’s as polished as possible before we release it. So, until then… testing, testing and more testing” Buechner writes in the post.

He also promises that a follow-up blog will outline the new update in more detail soon. Let’s hope that the priority to polishing this update means that this will be well received and mercifully free of game-breaking bugs unlike a few past updates to Simcity.

The blog post mentioned in this article is here.