LOS ANGELES — The creators of SimCity are hoping players don’t move on after connectivity issues plagued the game’s launch last week.
The updated edition of the metropolis-building franchise, released Tuesday, requires players to be online, even if they are constructing virtual cities in the single-player mode. Several gamers were not able to log on after SimCity was launched, prompting some retailers to stop selling the Electronic Arts Inc. game.
Lucy Bradshaw, general manager at SimCity developer Maxis, said Friday that more wannabe mayors logged on than they had anticipated and that the developers have been increasing server capacity since the snafu.
‘‘More people played, and played in ways we never saw in the beta,’’ Bradshaw said. ‘‘OK, we agree, that was dumb, but we are committed to fixing it. In the last 48 hours, we increased server capacity by 120 percent. It’s working; the number of people who have gotten in and built cities has improved dramatically.’’
Bradshaw said the company would give players a free PC game to compensate for the hassles.
‘‘I know that’s a little contrived — kind of like buying a present for a friend after you did something crummy,’’ she said. ‘‘But we feel bad about what happened. We’re hoping you won’t stay mad and that we’ll be friends again when SimCity is running at 100 percent.’’