The launch of SimCity, the 2013 version of the long-running city planning and simulation series, can charitably be described as a mess. Running the game required a constant internet connection, but when the game was released the servers were not nearly prepared enough to service the crowd of gamers. Players couldn't get in at all, files weren't saved, and it was generally unpleasant for most people trying to play.
EA eventually fixed the issues, but it took longer than most people would have liked and many lost patience with the title altogether. In another example of taking too long, EA has finally delivered the update to the game that lets you play without an internet connection, more than a year after launch.
You must download update 10 through Origin to get the new feature, the single player mode, which is available for all current and future PC and Mac players. The Global Market is still present if you're playing offline but the prices are fixed, and you won't get any leaderboards, friends lists or achievements. All the region maps are available and you can have multiple cities, plus the gam files are saved locally, not on their servers.
You would have thought this option would be available from the start, but the game's infrastructure was built in such a way that it was reliant on being connected to the Internet. That's an irritating choice in general, I think, but if the servers work, it's much less of a nuisance. If you require a connection but can't actually offer gamers a steady one, it becomes a much bigger issue. EA eventually offered free games to players to make amends for the disastrous launch.
Source: Eurogamer