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EA details free Origin games as apology for SimCity launch disaster

List of games being given away by EA includes Battlefield 3 and Dead Space 3.

348 Comments

EA has detailed the list of Origin games it will offer to customers affected by the disastrous launch of SimCity.

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All copies of SimCity registered on Origin before March 25 will give applicable customers a chance to pick one free game from the following list: Battlefield 3, Bejeweled 3, Dead Space 3, Mass Effect 3, Medal of Honor: Warfighter, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Plants vs. Zombies, and SimCity 4: Deluxe Edition.

The games provided, with the exception of Sim City 4, are all standard edition.

EA will roll out the redemption process across its three territories in waves, starting in North America by 5pm PDT on Wednesday March 20, before reaching Europe by March 21, and then Asia and South America before the end of March 22.

Games have to be claimed by 11:59 PDT on March 30.

"Our SimCity Mayors are incredibly important to the team at Maxis," said a statement on the EA website. "We sincerely apologise for the difficulties at launch and hope to make it up to you with a free PC game download from Origin."

"Starting today," continued the apology, "every player that has activated their copy of SimCity will receive an email that will give directions on how to redeem this offer, and you can also find more information on our FAQ. We'll be opening up the redemption portal country-by-country so some of you may see it a little sooner than others."

"The portal will be live worldwide for everyone to select their game by March 22. We don't want any of you to miss out on your free game, so please note that you must register your copy of SimCity before March 25, 2013 at 11:59 PM PDT and you must claim your free game by March 30, 2013 at 11:59PM PDT.

"At Maxis, our studio values dictate that we innovate and create something that is quirky, complex and challenging. Sometimes this bites us in the butt, but our servers are green and we're seeing record numbers of players all online and having a great time.

"Here is the list of games that you will be able to choose from once you are able to redeem. It's a great list of games across the whole EA portfolio, so pick one and add it to your Origin library on us!:

"We're getting great feedback from our fans and know that many of you are having fun and exploring this whole new expression of SimCity," the developer continued. "We're humbled by your patience and passion for the game. Thanks for building something very special with us, together."

For the latest on SimCity, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

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moleyUK

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So these "Standard Edition" games, are they the versions that don't have the Online Pass included?

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Elite_Bushido

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@moleyUK do you know what a PC game is?

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moleyUK

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@Elite_Bushido

Nope, never heard of one. Is that a game that's Politically Correct?

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maitkarro

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@Elite_Bushido @moleyUK Ah yeah forgot about PS3, dunno about xbox360, getting free games there you won't mostly get the online pass if it's somewhere in the dlc category.

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maitkarro

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Edited By maitkarro

@moleyUK In what way you won't get online pass if you buy or get it for free the standard game from origin.

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Lokusasu

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Edited By Lokusasu

So if I buy now, I can pick one of those games?

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maitkarro

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@Lokusasu Yeah, if you can buy, that is. It said before march 25 registered SimCity owners in Origin. Not only boxed you have to use the key in Origin.

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Lokusasu

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@maitkarro @Lokusasu I wonder how many people will buy this now just to get the free game lol.

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OldKye

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@maitkarro @Lokusasu It is to promote Simcity that's why this is good for people who buy the game in the next week.

They sell more Simcity, increase the user base of both origin and other game's like Mass Effect 3(and DLC sales) and do it all well trying to sweep away their PR nightmare EA's been doing this awhile.

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maitkarro

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Edited By maitkarro

@Lokusasu @maitkarro Yeah might be using to promote the game, or actually all of this commotion feels like somekinda promotion nowadays, something bad happens with games everyone knows about it, everyone as in gamers or who are in the gaming business.

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Stebsis

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Where's the apology for the games they've almost literally beaten to death to get every cent from them?

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maitkarro

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@Stebsis What, sorry that you messed with us EA?
Myself didn't buy the game or even played it. Only SimCity 4.

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skipper847

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By the way is it EA giving away these free games or does maxis who made the game got to pay EA money to give these games away?. I no ive been saying will we get an email today in the forums but I would prefer not to get a free game really and maxis spend the money on developing SimCity 5 more.

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OldKye

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@skipper847 No it's sanctioned by EA they own Maxis so Maxis budget is completely unaffected by this.

Basically other then whatever licencing fee's since it's a digital download they just forgo profits may only cost them like $10 for each "free game" they give us.

Include the chance to sell DLC for it (like mass effect 3 and Dead space 3) and it's no different then a $20 coupon they may even make a buck from it.

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ken_wakashimazu

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with this policy, people will be able to say that they paid for a good and functioning simcity game at least...


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berserker66666

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Why Plants vs Zombies? It's a small game with a small price tag.

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skipper847

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Edited By skipper847

Might get SimCity 4: Deluxe Edition. lol. Not too bothered about mass effect 3 but dead space 3 sounds tempting. Good choices though. But would like to have just off line mode like all the other people say on SimCity 5. ):

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Blue-N-Yellow

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That's actually a much better list than I was expecting. Still not buying it though.

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SnakeEyesX80

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We all should get a free game since we've had the listen to everyone who bought the game complain about the servers the for past few weeks. :\

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OldKye

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@SnakeEyesX80 This lol I think EA owes everyone a apology for being EA.

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deadkingdg

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They could have given old games, yet they gave games that are mostly a few months old. Stop complaining.

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megakick

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I wouldn't want free games I would rather the companyfix the game that I bought. This is the same BS Sony pulled when the servers got hacked, its cheaper to give away their games then to spend the money to fix the real problem...

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deadkingdg

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@megakick Sony actually did both... But the games they gave weren't as recent as those.

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OldKye

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Honestly I wish they would give us a offline single player rather then a free game.

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93ChevyNut

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How many times will the servers crash while people try to redeem their free games?

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deltron77

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Edited By deltron77

"And to get us back in your good graces, we’re going to offer you a free PC download game from the EA portfolio" WOW!!! i didnt know that ea's portfolio was only 8 games deep. fucking bullshit, i dont want anything from this list, i was hoping i could get crysis 3, or battlefield 2142. yes im bitching about a free game, im bitching because they lied once again..

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moleyUK

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Edited By moleyUK

@deltron77 Where did they lie in this instance?

Are those games not part of the EA portfolio?

By all means bitch at them when it's deserved, but come on your misinterpretation of text is not their fault.

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deltron77

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@moleyUK @deltron77 it says from their portfolio, it doesnt say from a list from our portfolio.

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sunbeam4

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@deltron77 yeah they could at least give the full game.

true EA has a lot more games to offer. they could atribute so much points or virtual money to spent on EA downloadable games.

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moleyUK

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Edited By moleyUK

@sunbeam4 No "bitching around" was meant from my part, just pointing out that his ire was unjustified in this case.

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moleyUK

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@deltron77

All I'm trying to say is that it equally means (and how it was interpreted by just about everyone else) exactly what they meant.

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deltron77

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@moleyUK @deltron77 when it says a game from the ea portfolio that means every game from the portfolio. if i go onto origin right now and look at their portfolio, its not just 8 games. when it say we will offer a free game from a list from our portfolio then i would be interpreting it incorrectly.

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sunbeam4

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Edited By sunbeam4

@moleyUK @deltron77 dudes get a life. the man (deltron) is entitle to be disappointed. Stop bitching around. beside it's nice to get/receive something you need or want. that's the hole point of it. and remember that EA could be sued by millions...

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deltron77

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Edited By deltron77

it sure is my interpretation, besides that, its my interpretation that this list is a bs tactic to make even more money off everyone, because off this list most people will download me3, ds3, and bf3, which gives them more oppertunity to make money off dlc, or premium, or micro transactions. which is in my opinion a shady tactic

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moleyUK

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@deltron77

No lies there at all.

Once again, TOTALLY down to your misinterpretation based on what you WANTED them to be giving not what they actually said they were giving.


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deadkingdg

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@deltron77 "It's a great list of games across the whole EA portfolio" It says 'across' their portfolio and those games are across their portfolio. Nowhere does it say their 'full' portfolio.

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Patohua1

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lol who would pick Plants Vs. Zombies or Bejeweled over BF3 or ME3? You can get Plants Vs. Zombies or Bejeweled for like a few bucks on ur phone or tablet haha

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jazilla

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how about not making any games that have a single player section with always online functionality? that's what people want. we want to play our games and NOT have to be connected.

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killjoi

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Edited By killjoi

If you don't own Battlefield 3, that's a ridiculous value right there.

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2bitSmOkEy

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Edited By 2bitSmOkEy

@killjoi if it came with like the 5 dlc packs they made for BF3 then that would be a good deal. Just the base game is not particularly a good value.

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deltron77

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Edited By deltron77

@2bitSmOkEy @killjoi i totally agree. but the list i saw it says standard, which is not the map packs, which is not goty. they are just using a tactic, a smart business tactic. they are bottlenecking people with shitty games, obviously the majority of people will pick me3, ds3, or bf3. which if people like those enough there is a higher chance they will buy the dlc, premium, or micro transactions.

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2bitSmOkEy

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Edited By 2bitSmOkEy

@deltron77 Yup.

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frozenux

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Bejeweled 3? lollolol

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TheSkyrimStatue

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Edited By TheSkyrimStatue

Everyone already owns half the games on this list and wouldn't be caught dead playing the other half

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Dimebag_Darrell

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Edited By Dimebag_Darrell

@TheSkyrimStatue My thought exactly. Already have Mass Effect 3, I don't play shooters (besides Mass Effect) or racers, Bejeweled and Plants vs. Zombies are weaksauce to put on this list, and Giving us SimCity 4 to apologize for SimCity 5 is just dumb.

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NzallRawl

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Anyone wanna bet that the redemption servers for these free games will be just as cumbersome to work with as the Simcity servers at launch?

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deltron77

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Edited By deltron77

i thought this was supposed to be any game from the origin library? i had a feeling they were going to pull this shit.

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moleyUK

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@deltron77

That's totally your mistaken reading of the original statement.

No mention was made of "Any game from the Origin library" when the offer was announced last week (or whenever it was).

You expecting something that was never on the table is not a failing of EA/Origin.


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mtait01

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hate EA - but that is a pretty generous games list!

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