PowerPoint Presentation
Electronic Arts Sim City CrisisNurul Jannah binti Alyasa
Gan1007K11063Crisis Management
1Open-ended city-building computer and console video gameFirst
published in year 1989 as SimCitySuccessful game which give way to
other Sim series 23 nominations5th highest selling game
Background of SimCityThe Sims 2 series
SimCity 5 having technical issues Worse than the previous
SimCityThe first trailer presented itself wellBut Gamers developed
false expectationOver-promise, under-deliverWhat is the issue?March
2012 : Game Developers Conference7th March 2013 : The game SimCity
5 is released8th 15th March 2013 : The issue of SimCity 5 technical
issue begins 10th March 2013 : 3 days after release, remained
silent, Apology letter was sent to the buyers of SimCity 5The
crisis lasted for more than a year even with their newest game
launch which is SimCity 5 re-boot
TimelineThere are 5 obvious reasons on why the SimCity crisis
happened:-Always Online Leads to troubleOnline-basis ONLYOnly
through playing in their ServersServer OverloadLong waits for other
players who have yet to enter the game
Why did it happen?No Comment, No refundsNo respond from EA for 2
days straightNO REFUNDSAmazon stops selling SimCity game download
Angers many gamers who already purchased the game but are unable to
play it
WHAT?!
Cont.Refusal in making the game offline as a back-up
planBelieved it would lead to piracyRefused to mention DRM (Digital
Rights Management)DRM is a control system which would help control
digital content and devices after sale
Cont.Superior graphics but de-scaledIn-game: The buildings
looked smaller than the previous SimCity Small = Worse
Cont.From graphic view comparison
Scale view comparison
Whacked AIThe residents dont OWN any housesALWAYS take the
shortest route to reach an unoccupied house
Cont. Traffic whack
Electronic Arts (Lucy Bradshaw Senior Vice president of Maxis
and John Riccitiello CEO of EA)The gamers (Legitimate buyers)Game
Reviewers (Rock Paper Shotgun, Penny Arcade, Polygon)
Who are involved?
The media involved?
What message was sent out?:Used EAs blog website to send the
message The message was sent out by Lucy Bradshaw on the 8th March
2013 to send an apology letter to all the gamers who purchased
SimCity 5Calls their mistake DumbSimCity is played online and if
you cant get a stable connection, youre NOT having a good
experienceAnalysisMention that they will fix the problem within 48
hoursIncreased capacity by 120% to improve login performanceFree PC
games given to gamers who purchased SimCity 5 ( 8 Games are given
for free by choice)
Cont. Provided free PC games to those who purchased the SimCity
5 game as an alternative refundAdmitted their mistakes within their
apology letterMentioned to fix the server overload issueIncreased
server capacity within 48 hours
Evaluation on how SimCity managed the crisis?NEVER take online
gaming systems lightlyDo their research on the growing market
(Predict problems and create solutions)Respond quickly to their
loyal consumers to show their concerns for the problem faced by the
gamers who plays SimCity 5
My Opinion as a PR
Practitionerhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/18/john-riccitiello-ea-resigns_n_2902864.htmlhttp://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/blog/sim-city-real-crisis/http://socialmediatoday.com/emoderation/1314496/town-planning-simcity-s-social-media-crisishttp://kotaku.com/5991077/your-complete-guide-to-the-simcity-disasterhttp://www.ea.com/news/a-simcity-update-and-something-for-your-trouble?websso=1http://penny-arcade.com/report/article/why-you-shouldnt-trust-our-simcity-review#/entry/signin
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