What the update stream covered

SimCity (2013), developed by Maxis and published by EA, received a series of free post-launch updates delivered through the game launcher. Over the course of its support cycle, the game saw around 25 patches and updates addressing bugs, tuning gameplay systems, and introducing new features. Starting from Update 10, players could choose to install patches at a later time rather than being forced to update immediately on launch.

A vibrant, illuminated cityscape from SimCity BuildIt at night, featuring high-rise buildings, waterways with boats, and glowing streets against a mountainous backdrop.
A vibrant, illuminated cityscape from SimCity BuildIt at night, featuring high-rise buildings, waterways with boats, and glowing streets against a mountainous backdrop. Källa: ea.com

Major updates and features

Update 7, released on 22 August 2013, was one of the most notable patches. It introduced a raise and lower tool that let players create road bridges, overpasses, and tunnels using the N and M keys to adjust elevation while drawing roads. The same update brought traffic behavior improvements that spread vehicles across available routes instead of funneling them into a single path, affecting everything from police cars and fire trucks to buses and civilian vehicles. A tree tool was also added, letting players place individual trees along city roads.

The famous suspension bridge in SimCity.
The famous suspension bridge in SimCity. Källa: thesimswiki.com

Update 10 arrived on 18 March 2014 and added an offline single-player mode, one of the most requested features since the game's launch. Cities played offline were saved to the local disk, though neighboring cities in a region remained static while the player worked on another city.

End of active support

SimCity's final version is Update 10.3. The game is no longer actively developed and has not received further patches or content updates. Community mods remain available through sites like Simtropolis for players who want to extend the experience beyond the official update stream.