SimCity sales pass 1.6 million since launch

EA's new SimCity has sold more than 1.6 million copies since its launch in March.

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Despite the game's turbulent launch, which saw server issues force players offline and render the game near unplayable, EA says these sales are tracking "ahead of forecasts".

The firm also said that nearly half of all copies sold were purchased digitally.

EA Labels president Frank Gibeau said during a financials call today that the firm has "learned [its] lesson" following the game's troubled launch, with the firm promising to be better prepared for future major launches.

"[SimCity is] a great game that has recovered from a challenging launch," said Gibeau. "The short explanation for the launch is that the initial rush of consumers overwhelmed our game service, disrupting the consumer experience.

He later added, "The key takeaway here: SimCity is a highly resilient, global franchise with a long service life in front of it. But we learned our lesson and are now building better processes to anticipate and service demand. This won't happen again."

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