EA, which previously did not take too kindly to SimCity mods, has finally come around and eased up on its “no mods” policy – a full nine months after the game’s release. Hooray! The bad news is that the list of rules regarding mods is incredibly restrictive, and making any mod for the game gives EA the right to use it, modify it, and even sell it without your permission.
Modders have never really needed a developer or publisher’s blessing to do their work, but EA and Maxis have, nine months post-release, begun to allow official mods for SimCity. There are some caveats to being an official mod however: according to a post on the SimCity blog, you can’t modify any executable files (.exe, .dll, .so, etc), can’t use copyrighted material, can’t use material unbefitting of an E10+ rating, and cannot “jeopardize the integrity of the gameplay” or “affect the simulation for multiplayer games and multiplayer features.”