Another new 1Up video at GameVideos.com (different from the one linked in the previous article) shows that EA was fearful of making a SimCity 4 clone, where they wanted to do something “completely different”. This, according to EA’s Rod Humble, was the reason for placing the project with Tilted Mill.

So it appears this move was not as much a result of Maxis being tied up with Spore, but of EA wanting SimCity Societies to be more of a God-Game than an Urban Planning Simulation. The harsh criticism aimed at Tilted Mill by the SimCity fanbase for not hearing what the community wanted out of a new SimCity may therefore be directed at the wrong company.

Rod Humble clearly states that EA wanted to do something completely different instead of making “the same type of game” again and again, but agrees it is risky. “If our SimCity playerbase don’t like it, for sure they can expect the next iteration will be back to basics!”. He even contemplates Societies being the start of a separate line of SimCities, in addition to the traditional format. “It’s all about finding an audience”.