SimCity Makes the Move to Mobile

SimCity's coming... to mobile devices? EA Games has announced SimCity BuildIt, an iOS/Android compatible SimCity game that encapsulates the strategic fun of the city simulation series into a portable, touchable, format.

The official announcement for SimCity BuildIt came with very little information outside of providing a basic description of the game: "The choices you make evolve your city in a variety of ways. Meet your citizens’ needs to keep them happy, or make questionable choices and feel your citizens’ wrath."

There's no word on pricing, or a release date, or how EA Games plans to translate the complexities of city management into a palatable mobile game.

After the new SimCity's disastrous launch and ice-cold fan reception, most game companies would probably still be doing damage control to rebuild trust with a fractured fanbase. SimCity's numerous bugs and terrible behind-the-scenes decisions, like its always-online requirement, or the decision to limit cities to sections of land barely big enough for a skyscraper, all lead to one of the loudest backlashes in gaming history. It's a bit of a surprise, then, to see EA Games going for the casual/free-to-play market, as that could further alienate the already-annoyed fanbase. But, hey, perhaps SimCity BuildIt will be a fairly-priced, intuitive piece of gaming entertainment; only time will tell when it arrives at some as-of-yet undetermined date.

Just be careful not too spend too much time micromanaging, or you might botch a relationship!