SimCity Announced Along With Trailer And Screenshots, Release Date Scheduled For 2013

The Game Developers Conference is underway in San Francisco, and most of us were expecting to hear some news from Blizzard as the publisher is expected to announce the Diablo III release date in the near future. Well, EA was the first to take the stage at GDC 2012 in order to announce the new SimCity game.

The first SimCity screenshots and trailer have also been released, as the game will finally make a comeback. Believe it or not, it was SimCity that brought me closer to the “Sim” series. According to EA, SimCity is returning to Maxis and the game has been scheduled for a 2013 release date on Windows PCs.

Even though we’re one year away from the official launch, Sim fans can already pre-order the game on Origin. EA also revealed the game’s official website, but didn’t say a single word whether SimCity will be released on consoles like the PS3, Nintendo Wii U, or the Xbox 360.

The simulation will feature “curvy roads,” amazing landscapes, dust clouds, new buildings, and social features like polluters. Maxis said that SimCity will provide the most fun experience in series as anybody loves to build a city.

Among the many upgrades from the previous SimCity game we can find economic information for individual Sims as the “resources are finite.” The gamers will have to go through every day challenges meaning that Sims can lose their jobs, get new and better jobs, or even buy a new house.

The new game engine will enable improved physics and natural disasters. The aforementioned social features will make some individual Sims “unpopular” among friends who like to keep a watch on pollution. There will be global leaderboards in order to see who is the best at using the finite resources in an efficient manner, keep the city clean, decrease pollution, and improve wealth.

Developer Maxis said that you don’t need to be an environmentally-friendly guy to win at SimCity. There are no special ways to be successful and all scenarios are viable in this game. Well, if you hate both people and the environment, then you have a chance to “win” at SimCity as EA wants to make this the most playful Sim game ever.

EA and Maxis believed that this is the perfect time to release a new SimCity game thanks to advancements in technology. PCs are now more powerful, the graphics are better, the monitors are bigger, the colors look better, and practically everything is better.

The last SimCity was called SimCity 4 and it was released about 10 years ago. The first SimCity trailer can be watched below along with three screenshots.