EA suspends SimCity marketing campaigns, asks affiliates to 'stop actively promoting' game

Publisher Electronic Arts has suspended some of its online marketing campaigns for SimCity in the wake of ongoing server issues, asking its affiliates to "please stop actively promoting the game" until further notice.

In an email sent this morning to marketing affiliate partners, EA Origin says it has "deactivated all SimCity text links and creative and we ask you to please remove any copy promoting SimCity from your website for the time-being." The email, obtained by Polygon, is directed at affiliates of EA Origin's LinkShare program.

"To be clear we are continuing to payout commissions on all SimCity sales that are referred, however we are requesting that you please stop actively promoting the game," the email reads. "We will notify you as soon as the SimCity marketing campaigns have been resumed and our promotional links are once again live in the Linkshare interface. We apologize for any inconveniences that this may cause, and we thank you for your cooperation."

SimCity launched earlier this week and has since struggled to meet player demand. Developer Maxis has deactivated certain gameplay features and says it will continue to roll out fixes to address "server instability" and player frustration.

Polygon has contacted Electronic Arts seeking comment and will update with any information the company provides.

Update: In an interview with Maxis general manager Lucy Bradshaw, she says, "This was a responsible decision by our Marketing team to pause the advertising while we work through these issues. It will resume shortly."