EA Reveals SimCity Societies

Electronic Arts has just announced a new installment in the SimCity series, called SimCity Societies. Like previous installments, the game will let you build and manage your very own thriving metropolis. New to series however will be the ability to not only shape the physical city, but its culture and societies as well. Want your city to be like the one in George Orwell’s 1984? Go ahead. Want to build an Amish community? You got it. Want to recreate your own Jonestown? Please just go directly to jail now.

The culture of your city will be determined by different “social energies”: industry, wealth, obedience, knowledge, devotion, and creativity. The level of these energies is determined by the types of buildings you place. Different concentrations of these energies are what shape the direction of your “simciety”.

Also new to the series are a much wider variety of building types that can connect and interact with each other. These types can range from the classical to the industrial to the fanciful. The buildings you have will partly depend on your society as well, since the direction it takes will determine what types of buildings are unlocked for you to use. If your citizens are mostly happy, they may begin building more fanciful structures like theme parks and giant gingerbread houses. If they’re unhappy, you may see more prisons and “re-education centers.”

SimCity Societies is expected to ship in November of this year.