SimCity Archives

AppWizard

June 21, 2026

You will never guess who turns up in this video about why you can’t build British towns in SimCity 4

YouTuber Chris Spargo analyzes why a SimCity game set in the UK may not resonate as well as its American version, noting that the game's design reflects American city governance, misrepresenting British cities. He discusses the complexities of public service management in the UK, highlighting the role of a British mayor and financial challenges faced by local councils due to centralization and social care costs. The video features a surprise cameo by UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who discusses the importance of empowering local communities and the Labour government's commitment to decentralization, granting more authority to local mayors.

AppWizard

June 14, 2026

Frontier is making a Planet game that isn’t about zoos or rollercoasters, and has just filed trademarks for Planet Resort and Planet Festival

Frontier has announced a new management simulation game that will not focus on zoos or rollercoasters, generating speculation among fans about potential titles. Popular suggestions include Planet Resort, Planet Festival, and Planet City. Frontier has filed nine new trademarks, including Planet Resort and Planet Festival, while Planet City is not among them. Other trademarks include Planet Farm, Planet Vacation, Planet Dinosaur, Planet Prehistoric, Planet Fantasy, Planet Mythical Creatures, and Planet Dragon. The new game is expected to be released around 2028, following the launch of Planet Zoo 2 later this year.

Winsage

May 27, 2026

When Microsoft was developing Windows 95, developers discovered that SimCity had a severe memory bug that caused it to crash on the new operating system—but instead of forcing the game studio to fix it, Microsoft engineers actually rewrote the core Windows 95 source code to detect if SimCity was running and safely allocate memory for it.

Windows 95 contains a block of code that checks if the user is playing SimCity and adjusts memory management to address a bug from the game's programming. This bug, a "use-after-free" error introduced by SimCity's developer Jon Ross, went unnoticed in Windows 3.x but caused crashes in Windows 95 due to its different memory management. Instead of asking Maxis to fix the bug, Microsoft engineers modified Windows 95 to mimic the older memory behavior, ensuring SimCity would run smoothly. This approach reflects Microsoft's broader strategy of maintaining compatibility with older software through various "shims," allowing legacy programs to function on modern systems.