SimCity players to receive free PC game for their troubles 

EA is offering an olive branch to SimCity players by way of a free PC game, as an apology for the server issues stemming from the game's launch. The firm has also said it is "definitely looking into" an offline mode for the title.

According to an email from the firm we received overnight, the free PC game is from EA's portfolio which can be redeemed on March 18 by SimCity players who have activated their game.

An email will be sent to players instructing them on how to redeem their free game.

"I know that’s a little contrived – kind of like buying a present for a friend after you did something crummy," said Maxis boss Lucy Bradshaw in the announcement. "But we feel bad about what happened. We’re hoping you won’t stay mad and that we’ll be friends again when SimCity is running at 100%

"The server issues which began at launch have improved significantly as we added more capacity, but some people are still experiencing response and stability problems that we’re working fast to address.

"A lot more people logged on than we expected. More people played and played in ways we never saw in the beta. OK, we agree, that was dumb, but we are committed to fixing it. In the last 48 hours we increased server capacity by 120%. It’s working – the number of people who have gotten in and built cities has improved dramatically. The number of disrupted experiences has dropped by roughly 80%

"So we’re close to fixed, but not quite there. I’m hoping to post another update this weekend to let everyone know that the launch issues are behind us."

Bradshaw went on to state that while SimCity is "fundamentally a great game," it is made to be played online, and "if you can’t get a stable connection, you’re NOT having a good experience."

"So we’re not going to rest until we’ve fixed the remaining server issues," she added.

On Twitter, Bradshaw answered various questions tweeted to her through the SimCity account, and at one point, someone asked if Maxis was looking into taking the game offline.

"We have no intention of offlining SimCity any time soon but we'll look into that as part of our earning back your trust efforts," read her reply. "[But] we're definitely looking into this as we know it would improve your experience."