Origin servers spoil SimCity’s US launch

Many PC gamer’s worst fears have come to fruition with news that EA’s Origin servers have crippled the US launch of SimCity.

It’s yet another example of a primarily single player game being borked by a publisher’s insistence of implementing internet-centric DRM in a title.

RockPaperShotgun reports that gamers trying to boot up the game this morning are being thrust to the back of a 30-minute queue.

The most worrying thing is that these troubles have arisen after the game’s launch in just one country – SimCity doesn’t release in Europe until the end of the week.

The news is a real blow both for the game and for EA.

Early reviews of SimCity have been largely positive, but concerned noise is already increasing online – not only because of its dependence on external servers but also for various design decisions in the game itself, such as the strangely small city size restrictions.

Origin already lacked popularity in PC gaming circles, and with the likes of even the mighty Blizzard fluffing its Diablo III launch server capacity last year, the launch of SimCity was a real chance to gain favour.

A chance that could well be missed if the situation isn’t resolved quickly.