With the major server and gameplay problems that were encountered during the launch week of SimCity, many disgruntled SimCity owners vented their wrath online and directly to EA. There were many angry requests for EA to offer full refunds for SimCity, but EA ultimately refused to offer refunds, angering SimCity owners even more. It became so problematic that even Amazon suspended SimCity digital orders through it’s own store, as those that had purchased the game through Amazon were requesting refunds in large numbers.
Instead, EA/Maxis announced that they would be offering a free game to those that had purchased SimCity (to disgruntled SimCity owners) from their Origin catalog at a later date. However, they did not specify which titles they would be offering. Today, EA/Maxis announced which titles it would be offering for free:
* Battlefield 3: Standard Edition
* Bejeweled 3
* Dead Space 3
* Mass Effect 3
* Medal of Honor: Warfighter
* Need For Speed: Most Wanted
* Plants vs. Zombies
* SimCity 4: Deluxe Edition
To qualify for a free game from the list, you must register your copy of SimCity to your Origin account by March 25. The offer ends on March 30.
While it’s nice that EA/Maxis is offering a game for free, there are many angry SimCity owners that would rather prefer a full refund or the offline, DRM-less update. It’s also quite ironic that SimCity 4: Deluxe Edition is part of the list of games that EA is offering for free, considering that SimCity is a completely offline, DRM-less SimCity game, something which SimCity gamers have been demanding for.
Source: EA Maxis Gifting Free Offline SimCity Game After Server Launch Meltdown
UPDATE:
Origin users that purchased SimCity will now be prompted to select a free game upon login.
EA has made the offer live to Origin users with SimCity registered in their accounts, as they will now be prompted to choose a free game upon login.