The "SimCity" franchise will break ground in Facebook later this month as they roll out a free version of SimCity Social.
When your game has "city" in the title, multiple players interacting makes sense. So Electronic Arts announcedSimCity Social for Facebook at the game convention E3, adding to The Sims already available on Facebook. Players are expected to enjoy "an all-new deeply social experience" starting in a few weeks.
Fans of Zynga's Cityville may feel targeted, and many reports believe this new partnership between Facebook and Electrnic Arts means trouble for Zynga, which is almost totally reliant on Facebook. But since Cityville has been the largest game on Facebook for the past year, no immediate impact is expected. But for virtual builders of cities, SimCity is the original. Whether Facebook users will fall in love to the point of purchasing the game for off-line use when released in February 2013 is the gamble for Electronic Arts.