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Electronic Arts announced this morning that SimCity will receive UK building permits on March 8, 2013. This is a slight delay from the February launch window the publisher had been promoting since this summer.

We've reached out to EA's North American PR to confirm whether the city builder got caught up in bureaucratic licensing and union issues on this side of the Atlantic as well. We'll update as soon as we receive a response.

Update: The official SimCity Twitter account notes a North American launch date of March 5, 2013.

Electronic Arts announced this morning that SimCity will receive UK building permits on March 8, 2013. This is a slight delay from the February launch window the publisher had been promoting since this summer.

We've reached out to EA's North American PR to confirm whether the city builder got caught up in bureaucratic licensing and union issues on this side of the Atlantic as well. We'll update as soon as we receive a response.

I almost feel sorry for ‘em. Almost. Then I remember they’re making a game that has the hallmarks of being designed purely to appeal to the massest market possible, dead set on keeping up with the Activision Joneses rather than doing anything adventurous, and I don’t feel sorry for ‘em. But poor old Danger Close/EA, in their endless fight against Activision, hurrying to make a military first-person shooter for the Christmas market but having surely nowhere near the budget – and certainly a lot less consumer love. And so it is that War of Medal: Honor Fighter, their latest game of shooting men and shooting men and hsooting men and shooting men and shooting men is to require a day-one patch. Not just any old day-one patch though, oh no. A day one patch containing the best part of 100 fixes – some big, some small, some ‘oof, really?‘(more…)

Hmmm. Mmmmm. Ehhhhh. Errrrrr. Also harumph. Oh, hello, didn’t see you there. When I enter my Contemplate-O-Sphere, I tend to just lose track of the world around me and emit a series of guttural droning sounds – eyes wide yet unseeing, as though I’m possessed by some kind of brain ghost. I believe many of you call it “having an idea.” Only I’m having many ideas – mostly prompted by Star Wars: The Old Republic‘s fairly alarming approach to free-to-play. In short, if you’re only playing for solo story, you’re in luck. But, if not, well…

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When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When SimCity gives you meteorites, tornadoes and earthquakes ... you'd better hope there's more than a refreshing beverage around. As the latest trailer for next February's reboot shows, an adequate support structure helps alleviate the worst events.

Electrical grids? Meh. Highways? Fleh. Civic infrastructure? Poo. If you’re a real SimCity fan, you know it’s all about the disasters that the apathetic world throws your way. You know that something will come, and that you’ll need to deal with it. It’s inevitable. If it’s a worry you’ve had to relate to your psychiatrist, then you need worry no more. This is what you’ve been waiting for: a faux ‘olde’ style trailer showing off the various ways that your Simulated City (5) could be destroyed, and the various avenues open to you to protect it.(more…)

#ea This weekend, Electronic Arts accidentally gave away thousands of free games thanks to a discount coupon, rewarded to anyone who filled out their marketing survey, that would take $20 off any purchase of more than $20. Some crafty gamers figured out that they could use the coupon more than once, and they walked away with a whole bunch of free EA-published games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age. More »

As spotted by Kotaku, this weekend EA’s Origin had a sudden burst of not quite intentional generosity. As a thank you for completing a survey, a few customers were sent a voucher for $20 for the digital store, allowing them to download a free game. Except, well, EA forgot to make that code a one-time only thing. Can you guess what happened next?

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Mass Effect 3‘s next batch of single-player DLC isn’t just any old carved up chunk of side story gristle. It is, according to BioWare, the biggest yet, which sends “Leviathan” – a synonym for the very concept of largeness (and perhaps also in-charge-ness) – tearfully packing to second place. Titled “Omega,” the new add-on comes bearing an elaborate tale in which you team up with ousted Omega ruler/master space-club-couch-lounger Aria T’loak in an effort to reclaim her old haunt. It also carries a price tag to match.

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The NBA said it will "continue to work together with [EA] as we always have," when recently asked about the cancellation of NBA Live 13.

John A*crag*o, VP of Marketing Communications for the NBA told Joystiq that the NBA has "had a great relationship with EA for more than 20 years. We are obviously disappointed that EA will not be releasing NBA LIVE 13 this year, but have been assured by EA that the next release of NBA LIVE will meet our mutual standards of excellence."

EA's Executive VP Andrew Wilson said the team plans on "making next year's game great."

Take-Two recently revealed record sales for the other major NBA licensed game this year, NBA 2K13, which sold 49 percent more in its first week than past games in the series.

Speaking of racing games, Need For Speed Most Wanted is looking, well, like it might well be wanted. Our latest glimpse of the game (below) shows off the multiplayer, and basically I laughed pretty hard at the jump at 1:15. I’m not sure it’s “the most socially connected game of its generation”, but it does look like it’s going to be a slick experience. And hell, maybe “open-world” is a buzz word that just automatically switches my critical mode from cranky to favourable, but there it is.

The game is out of on October 30th in North America, and November 2nd in Europe.(more…)

Maxis’ Lucy Bradshaw (senior VP and GM) invites you into her living room to watch some Sim City on her enormous telly. Originally broadcast live at some point during last night, it’s an hour and seventeen minutes of all things Sims and SimCity. It’s below, and I’ve highlighted the parts you’ll want to watch.

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News arrived over the RPS battle computer that EA wanted to show us their latest Medal Of Honour game, so we sent in elite fightering journalist Craig Pearson. Having donned his ghillie suit to play the game and held down ‘E’ to hack into the EA war satellite, he sent us this report.(more…)

Medal Of Honor: Warfighter began in stirring controversy, and seems to wade around in it. Boasting depictions of real-world conflicts, including those that are ongoing, it seems as much an attempt to test the limits of what will be tolerated in a modern war shooter as it is an attempt to follow up on last year’s dismal revival of the franchise. But perhaps this time they’ve gone too far. It’s hard to see how this will be countenanced. They’ve put Linkin Park in one of their trailers.

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#videogamemovies Earlier this afternoon, Electronic Arts' official Twitter feed posed a question tailor-made for the post-lunch doldrums of a hump day in a four-day work week. If you could turn one movie into a video game, what would you choose? The question gathered more than 600 responses. More »

The latest batch of Dead Space 3 screenshots make Isaac look like the loneliest astronaut - and the only time he's not alone, he's in the company of murderous mutant creatures infected with alien goo. Turns out "space man" isn't the high-class lifestyle Apollo 13 made it out to be.

#battlefield Fox plans to make a television series out of EA's Battlefield: Bad Company, Deadline reports. More »

Oh those crazy Collectors. What won’t they take? Entire colonies, the last pudding cup in the cafeteria, lives, your favorite parking spot, that coat you’d been waiting to nab on sale, etc, etc, etc. They’ll just never stop. Well, unless you force them to. That’s the idea behind Mass Effect 3‘s upcoming and still rather miraculously free “Retaliation” multiplayer DLC. The Collectors have invaded, and it’s up to you to put them in their place. Which is not your place. Which is where they are anyway. The jerks. Happily, Retaliation also brings with it a suite of other goodies, including new weapons, new characters, “hazard” maps, and a challenge point system. Gaze upon it with your feeble human eyes after the break. Unless the Collectors took those too.

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This is a treat. Ten minutes of SimCity, showing a city being simulated all the way from its humble beginnings as a field to its brash middle period as a nascent tourist trap. I’m unable to remove the frown that the social and online aspects of the game have stitched into my forehead, but I’m also unable to banish the smile that the multitude of systems at work brings to my face. Rather than being about plonking down zones and buildings, this SimCity tracks and models individual elements in great detail. That level of simulation fascinates me.

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EA Sports' canceled NBA Live 13 was going to be a digitally distributed product on Xbox Live Arcade. The word of the XBLA release comes directly from Microsoft community guru Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb. It had been previously rumored that NBA Live 13 was going to be a digital release for $20.

"NBA Live 13 was supposed to be today's XBLA title, but EA made the decision not to launch it today," wrote Hryb on Twitter. He then directed queries on the topic to the September 27 announcement of the game's cancellation.

Checking with Hryb to confirm he meant to say XBLA and not Microsoft's retail Games on Demand section of the Xbox marketplace, he noted the information was "unclear."

EA Sports responded to our request for clarification with a "no comment."

EA Sports had been sketchy about NBA Live's status ever since its absence from the company's E3 press conference, finally mentioning in mid September the game had been delayed. This will be the third year in a row the company skipped or canceled its basketball game due to quality concerns. Meanwhile, Take-Two's NBA 2K series has the run of the court.

Update: Added EA response.

The troubled franchise may not return just yet.

Electronic Arts has acquired Battlelog developer ESN. Battlelog is Battlefield 3's stat-tracking and social system behind the game on PC, while on consoles it... you know, still not entirely sure what the point was. Something extraneous to sign up for?

"We couldn't be more excited about this opportunity and the team is looking forward to focus all of its energy on DICE, Battlelog and the Battlefield series," ESN wrote in its announcement of the deal. "As we're teaming up with EA and DICE, we are looking for more talented developers and designers to join our studio and help create some of the best online game services out there."

EA's upcoming shooter Medal of Honor: Warfighter will also support Battlelog.

Here’s a fact of a life: when a large corporation (for instance, a games publisher. For instance, EA) buys up an exciting, highly-respected smaller, independent firm (for instance, a games developer. For instance, PopCap), the following process will invariably happen:

1) Happy, positive talk of independence, unfettered creativity and bright futures from both sides 2) A gradual shift into having that developer do what it’s told, rather than what it wants 3) Redundancies at or closure of the developer once it doesn’t look to be providing a suitably enormous return on the obscene sum paid to acquire it in the first place 4) Repeat

So, best of luck to all those who sailed in the good ship PopCap Dublin, which newish owners EA closed down today. Edit: Though apparently it was “the PopCap leadership team” which pulled the trigger on this.(more…)

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Battlefield franchise, Electronic Arts has deployed a sale for the series on Origin, with each installment available at $10 apiece. That means Battlefield 2 through Battlefield 3 (standard edition), which sounds like it would only be two games, but is actually several, are all the same price.

The discount is only available today, so you better oscar mike to Origin if you're interested. Did we "oscar mike" that right? No?! We've learned nothing!

After hearing the news that both members of BioWare’s doctoral duo are headed for greener (or beerer) pastures, you might have worried that the studio would lose its flair for role-playing epics and start churning out farming sims, 1990s FMV adventures, or tasteful ballroom gowns. In a shocking twist, however, it’s instead going to make more Dragon Age and Mass Effect. On top of that, though, Mass Effect lead Casey Hudson and some members of his team are putting together “an all new game set in a fictional universe.” Which could mean just about anything, but anything is better than nothing. Or something. Words!

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It is Tuesday. You probably ate some cereal, went to work, and pretended to use the Force to open the automatic door at the grocery store – just like any other day. BioWare, meanwhile, ended an era. Specifically, Doctors Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka – the role-playing powerhouse’s co-founders – have left the building. Now then, I will briefly interrupt this message to read your mind. “Kickstarter, Kickstarter? Kickstarter! Kickstarterererer.” Congratulations, you’re thinking the same thing as everyone else on Earth. Unfortunately, based on their goodbye letters, the doctors seem to not only be done with BioWare, but videogames in general.

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Zynga has officially responded to EA's recent lawsuit over its claims of a "clear violation" of copyright regarding The Ville. General Counsel for Zynga Reggie Davis issued the following statement:

"Today we responded to EA's claims which we believe have no merit. We also filed a counterclaim which addresses actions by EA we believe to be anticompetitive and unlawful business practices, including legal threats and demands for no-hire agreements. We look forward to getting back to focusing all our efforts on delighting our players."

Reached for comment, EA spokesman John Reseburg told Joystiq, "This is a predictable subterfuge aimed at diverting attention from Zynga's persistent plagiarism of other artists and studios. Zynga would be better served trying to hold onto the shrinking number of employees they've got, rather than suing to acquire more."

Yes, I know that’s not an entirely correct Star Wars reference. I should probably have my head lopped off by some form of lightsaber-bladed guillotine, but let’s save that for later. Now, after all, is time to be united by that most beautiful of communal forces: big things fighting. Last month, EA sued Zynga in an effort to “take a stand” against the social titan’s alleged copycatting ways, and now – after getting its crops (and I guess probably also legal affairs) in order – Zynga’s firing back. With a lawsuit of its own. Because the court system is weird.

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#electronicarts President Obama may not be in Madden NFL 13's Super Bowl celebration ceremony but that doesn't mean POTUS can't buy his way back into the game. Ads for his re-election campaign are popping up in the game's multiplayer menu, but only in targeted states. More »

Everyone, stand back. I’m going to fire up the Conflict-O-Tron. (Note: side effects of the Conflict-O-Tron may include inability to pin down an emotional response and also a sensation that feels like you’re about to sneeze, but you can’t, and it’ll never go away.) You see, EA’s announced a DLC map pack for the still-unreleased Medal of Honor: Warfighter. It’s doing the whole “free for pre-orderers and paid for everyone else” shtick, too, but that’s not the central issue this time around. Instead, this one’s a question of subject matter. On one hand, players will be tracing the supposedly piping hot tracks of Osama Bin Laden. Contentious! One the other, a portion of the proceeds will go to EA’s Project Honor veteran fund. There will now be a brief recess. Take it away, roving chorus of “hmms” and “harumphs”.

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