SimCity can now be played offline

From today, just over a year after it launched, SimCity will be playable offline.

EA has shut the controversial game's servers off in order to deploy the long-awaited update 10. When it's live, you'll be able to play SimCity without an active internet connection.

You can do this using the new single-player mode, included in update 10. This is available to all current and future players on PC and Mac. You will, of course, need an internet connection to download the update. After that, put Origin in offline mode and away you go.

The single-player mode allows for a multi-city single-player experience. All region maps are available, but you won't get leaderboards, Citylog, achievements, friends list, player profile, the region wall and region invites. The Global Market is available, but prices are fixed.

Single-player regions are saved locally, not on the server.

The online version of the game remains in place for those who use multiplayer, SimCity World and online game saves.

SimCity's disastrous launch saw the game unplayable for many as EA's servers buckled under the pressure of expectant players. In the end EA was forced to offer players free games as compensation.