It feels like more than a week ago that we headed south to Los Angeles for E3. It was a videogame cornucopia full of long days in the LA Convention Center, tons of people everywhere (45,700 to be exact) and back-to-back demos. Don’t feel too bad for us, it was, in all seriousness, pure fun. We got to show off SimCity and while we wish we had time to walk the conference floors and see all the games that were there, we were dedicated to bringing SimCity to you and all of the attendees that queued in line to see us! Yes, it was a humbling moment, but one that also made us proud. To catch up on the daily updates we gave last week, check here (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday).

Last week was awesome for the team here. We revealed two major components of the game – it was hard for us to keep them secret. Our biggest reveal was the big feature that everyone has been asking about, multiplayer. We had been talking about multiplayer since we first announced the game in March and E3 was the first time that we showed the world what it’s like to play SimCity with their friends. Working together to build an international airport, one of the Great Works available in the game, our three cities showed how multiplayer unlocks a brand new world of possibilities. Players are now able to share resources, workers and more as they collaborate to achieve mutual benefits. The international airport is just one of the many Great Works that you will be able to build in SimCity. Did we mention that Arcologies are back? Want to learn more? You’ll just have to stay tuned over the next couple of weeks!

For those of you that watched our EA Press Conference, you saw the first in-game screens and trailer and you found out about SimCity Social for Facebook. Previously, we had shown you concept art that detailed the direction we were going. Now, you see the tilt shift in action and how it helps us achieve a model like 3D world that you can reach out and touch. For many of the show goers it was their first time taking a look at our amazing GlassBox engine. We’re Maxis and simulations are our super power. This is the engine that allows us to create a simulation with great integrity – for the first time the art serves the simulation. Everything you see, we sim. There will be more screens released in the months to come. What did you think of the ones we released so far? Are you as in love with the cities as we are? Next week, Ocean Quigley, the creative director, will be going more in-depth on the stylized look of the game. He’ll give you insight into the decisions the team made, how we landed on the tilt shift-inspired art style, and share with you the reference videos that inspired the team. Check back next Tuesday to learn all about the inspiration behind our brand new art style.

Thanks to everyone for following us on our blog, our Twitter and on Facebook. We’re making this game because of you and we love sharing our success with you, the fans. We won some great awards – 24 nominations and eight wins! It was a great E3 for us and we’re happy to be home. We’re back from LA – catching up on sleep – and hitting the ground running for the next big thing to come. SimCity comes out for the PC in February 2013, stay tuned for even more exciting info!