EA Announces Free Game Options for SimCity Owners

EA and developer Maxis are offering players who purchased SimCity a free game of their choice as an apology for the server issues that have plagued the game.

SimCity mayors can choose between eight EA titles for PC to download free from the company’s online service Origin, EA announced on the company blog. Gamers can get free access to Battlefield 3, Bejeweled 3, Dead Space 3, Mass Effect 3, Medal of Honor Warfighter, Need for Speed Most Wanted, Plants vs. Zombies or SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition.

EA has already started sending emails to every player that activated their copy of SimCity with instructions on how to cash in on the offer.

The free game offer will be open to players in North America beginning March 20 at 5 p.m. PT, with access worldwide by March 22. In order to be considered eligible for the free game offer, SimCity owners must register their copy of the game by March 25. Players will also need to claim their free game by March 30.

All free games can be accessed through the Featured Today window displayed upon launching Origin.

SimCity was unplayable for many gamers when it launched earlier this month. The game requires an always-on Internet connection, a feature that led to server issues and consumer backlash. While previous game releases have been met with gameplay issues, most have been resolved quicker than EA managed to fix the problems with SimCity.

Days after the failed launch, Maxis announced players who purchased the game would be receiving an additional game from EA’s portfolio at no charge. Most of the eligible free games are fairly recent releases from EA.