According to a community post from General Manager of the Maxis Emeryville studio Patrick Buechner, offline mode is coming to SimCity. About a year after everyone asked for it.
It’s surprising news, as Maxis had previously insisted that the way the game was created left no possibility for offline play open. Hmm.
@Azbiker72 The game was designed for MP, we sim the entire region on the server so this is just not possible
— SimCity (@simcity) March 9, 2013
Anyway, Buechner says, ”Offline is coming as a free download with Update 10 to all SimCity players. When we launch it, all of your previously downloaded content will be available to you anytime, anywhere, without the need for an internet connection. 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.”
The update will allow single player campaigns to be saved and played offline, a bit like how a normal game works. Modders will also be allowed to work without compromising the online modes.
You can read the full blog post here. There’s no precise date for the update yet, but we’ll keep you updated as we learn more.