Sure, it was leaked all over the internet last week, but tonight at the Game Developers Conference, EA has made it official: SimCity is back.
The game, simply being labelled for now as SimCity (not SimCity 5), is being developed by Maxis, is due for the PC, and will be out in 2013.
EA says that the development team consists of many veterans from SimCity 2000 and SimCity 4. It will also - wait for it - feature curved roads. Yes.
Another new feature for the game is the fact these cities are, for the first time (well, since some driving games we won't mention) in full 3D.
The new SimCity also has a feature called "Social Flow", which is the term for how your city will affect other people's cities. For example, resources are finite, and decisions you make - and technological advances other make - will impact the development of your own metropolis.
Interestingly, mention is also made by EA in the game's first press release of downloadable content (free to Origin pre-purchasers, of course), called SimCity Heroes & Villains, which will apparently feature "a battle between Maxis Man and his longtime nemesis Evil Dr. Vu." A very elaborate new disaster to clean up after, perhaps?
Further stuff like talking to individual Sims, a complete world builder and even the ability to customise buildings shows, surprisingly, Maxis is actually making a proper SimCity here. Not a social game, not a Facebook title, they look like they're making a real, honest-to-God SimCity game. Which sounds great.