SimCity Cities Of Tomorrow Expansion Announced

SimCity will be receiving its first full expansion pack later this fall. Cities of Tomorrow allows players to bring their cities into the future.

"But what will cities look like 50 years from now?" Maxis says. "Better yet – how will they be constructed? Do you want to build a beautiful, clean technology-driven city that relies on the knowledge of the all-knowing Academy? Or maybe a city consumed by the gluttony and consumerism of the OmegaCo? Or maybe a little of both? How you decide to transform your tomorrow is all up to you."

Cities' appearances will transform as they adopt new technology. Maglevs, a mass transit system propelled by magnets, will connect the various neighborhoods together. On the streets below, futuristic vehicles mingle with service drones hard at work.

The cities will eventually host MegaTowers, massive buildings that can house multiple zones. This means that you could have recreational areas, offices and residences all in one place. I would imagine that most players would rather that Maxis just increased the map size for cities in the game. Nonetheless, MegaTowers will allow players without any undeveloped land to keep growing their cities.

My favorite part of the SimCity games is unleashing disasters and then laughing a lot. Cities of Tomorrow will accommodate my peculiar tastes by adding a new disaster. A giant robot can rampage through your city and undo all of your hard work. Fun!

"Over the coming weeks we’ll be exploring what the future entails, covering everything from multi-level MegaTowers that will allow you build into the sky, additional sources of power to all-new forms of transportation," Maxis adds. "You’ll soon see how working with new technology will create new challenges for both your cities and your regions."

Cities of Tomorrow can be purchased through Origin for $29.99, or in a bundle with the base game for $60. By pre-ordering the expansion, you'll get access to a Launch Arcology, that allows you to send Sims on journeys into space. As Mayor, you can actually choose what citizens to send into space. It's not clear what effect this will have on your city, though.