Forum Discussion

susume55's avatar
susume55
Seasoned Newcomer
22 days ago

Re: Graphical glitches in SCBI - Pink Pixelated Frozen Screen

Hello everyone and EA Support Team,

I have been experiencing an issue in the game for a long time and I know lots of people have the same issue as I saw from the forums and complaints I read from other platforms.

Whenever I tap on any Services or Specializations category, the screen turns into a pink pixel grid and the game completely freezes. After that it never recovers and the only thing I can do is restart the game. Because of this issue, I have not been able to properly play the game for almost two months.

I also noticed that other players are experiencing similar problems. For some people the screen becomes completely black, for others the game freezes in different ways, but the result is the same: the game becomes unplayable and does not recover.

As someone who has been playing this game for a long time, I want to say that adding new themes or features does not make the game better if the core gameplay is broken. For me and many other players, the first priority should be a stable game without any bugs.

This problem needs to be fixed as soon as possible before many loyal and valuable players will stop playing the game.As a long time player, seeing all my progress and effort end up like this is very disappointing. 

I hope the development team can address and fix this issue soon.

24 Replies

  • lopezedan's avatar
    lopezedan
    Rising Novice
    19 days ago

    I’m experiencing the same situation and it is frustrating. Used to be a paid customer but I’m quitting the game if it doesn't get fixed.

  • Narsauce3's avatar
    Narsauce3
    Rising Novice
    19 days ago

    Same thing here on iOS. I restart the game at least 5 times just to load in without glitching, and then sometimes glitches even after I actually make it to the services page 

  • GiftedRere1986's avatar
    GiftedRere1986
    Rising Scout
    18 days ago

    Is it safe to say you are playing on iPad rather than iPhone? A-Series?

    Also, both system and app are up-to-date?

    If so, see my post titled, "iPhone/iPad."

  • GiftedRere1986's avatar
    GiftedRere1986
    Rising Scout
    18 days ago

    iPad? A-Series? I have a post with ideas for troubleshooting titled, "iPhone/iPad."

  • citykittysf's avatar
    citykittysf
    Rising Vanguard
    18 days ago

    What is an A series iPad or phone?  I play on a mini iPad for my feeder city and a regular iPad for my main city, the latter which has become almost unplayable.

  • GiftedRere1986's avatar
    GiftedRere1986
    Rising Scout
    18 days ago

    A-Series chipsets seem to be most affected since Game Mode and Liquid Glass were introduced (not saying they are the cause). But, those two elements seem to correspond with the time frame this issue began with every update.

    All iPhones use A-Series (but don't seem to experience this as much as A-Series iPads). Apple has implemented M-Series chips in iPads since 2020. M-Series are more powerful than A-Series.

    My post has been updated since you saw it with a detailed explanation of what I believe is going on.

  • jimfister's avatar
    jimfister
    Seasoned Novice
    16 days ago

    I am on iOS and for the last 5 days my app crashes on the initial load. This is BS. It seems EA doesn’t have the insight needed to change the game, and keep it up and running. This sucks 

  • GiftedRere1986's avatar
    GiftedRere1986
    Rising Scout
    16 days ago

    This is not only happening with SimCity Buildit.

    This is an ongoing issue with GPU heavy (3D rendering) and memory intensive games since iOS 18. I am not saying the implementation of "Game Mode" is the cause, but the time line adds up.

    I am drawn to believe EA when they have told players that they could not replicate the issue.

    It is a general iOS and an A-Series specific problem.

    As a result, I believe devices manufactured before iOS 18 in 2024 will continue to have performance issues. See my post titled, "iPhone/iPad" for more detailed information why I believe that.

  • dderamo000's avatar
    dderamo000
    Rising Novice
    15 days ago

    I have been going through these forums quite a bit and you seem to have the best handle on the issues with SimCity Buildit…i’m sorry to bother you and I’m sorry for all that I’m about to type…but I am hoping that you can provide maybe some more insight or help to me…. Maybe you can… Maybe you can’t….

    My problem:   I can’t get back to my capital city as of about three weeks ago…it appears that the status bar showing the return back to the Capital City is normal but then the game freezes and then crashes…when I restart the game… I start in the satellite city from which I just was in prior to trying to return to the capital city…

    Obviously, this makes participation in war as well as the contest of mayors and almost everything else just about impossible… 

    In game help is useless and they don’t read what I previously wrote… and they keep asking me the same questions over and over again…

    I have always only downloaded the game from the official App Store and do not use any emulator

    and I’ve never used any cheat software

    I have a Apple IPad Pro 13-inch  M4

    Model… MVX23LL/A

    iOS 26.4 beta…I initially was running iOS 26.3…but was hoping to fix the problem by feeding the iPad iOS… In addition to updating the game from the App Store

    I first tried making sure I was signed into either my Apple ID and/or my EA account to save my progress before erasing the game from my iPad and then reloading it from the App Store. That did not work…same problem… Game freezes, and then crashes…

    I have tried using my account to sign in and play the game on my iPhone 17 Pro Max, iOS 26.3.1…that didn’t work either… Same problem.

    I then tried another iPad Pro 13-inch…and even created a brand new Apple ID and signed in using only my EA account login info…I wasn’t sure if there it was possible to have a corruption to the files of my Apple ID

    I even purchased a brand new Android tablet …nothing super fancy but I loaded the game from the Google play store, then signed in with my EA account…SAME PROBLEM… the game freezes then crashes!!!

    On the iPad, I think I’ve even tried all of your suggestions about shutting off the liquid glass and other memory intensive functions… I even tried erasing and reloading the game from my iPad from the iPad storage in settings… as you’ve suggested

    I was wondering if you had any thoughts at this point.   The fact that it occurred even on the android tablet is the most confusing… because it seems like there’s a problem with my actual account and not the device….

    The only thing I have not done is saving my progress using Facebook and then trying to login on a different device using my Facebook account…

    Any thoughts?  Help  

    sincerely,

    D

  • 64198412's avatar
    64198412
    Rising Novice
    15 days ago

    Check your device chip…I had the same issue with an  Apple A12Z Bionic chip… purchased a new iPad with an M5 chip…no more issues!!! 🤗

  • 64198412's avatar
    64198412
    Rising Novice
    15 days ago

    Check your device chip…I had the same issue with an  Apple A12Z Bionic chip… purchased a new iPad with an M5 chip…no more issues!!! 🤗

  • 64198412's avatar
    64198412
    Rising Novice
    15 days ago

    Check your device chip…I had the same issue with an  Apple A12Z Bionic chip… purchased a new iPad with an M5 chip…no more issues!!! 🤗

  • 64198412's avatar
    64198412
    Rising Novice
    15 days ago

    Check your device chip…I had the same issue with an  Apple A12Z Bionic chip… purchased a new iPad with an M5 chip…no more issues!!! 🤗

  • 64198412's avatar
    64198412
    Rising Novice
    15 days ago

    Check your device chip…I had the same issue with an  Apple A12Z Bionic chip… purchased a new iPad with an M5 chip…no more issues!!! 🤗

  • 64198412's avatar
    64198412
    Rising Novice
    15 days ago

    Check your device chip…I had the same issue with an  Apple A12Z Bionic chip… purchased a new iPad with an M5 chip…no more issues!!! 🤗

  • samuelsubba2007's avatar
    samuelsubba2007
    Seasoned Newcomer
    15 days ago

    I m also facing the same problem not being able to return to the capital city 

  • GiftedRere1986's avatar
    GiftedRere1986
    Rising Scout
    14 days ago

    Yours is a significantly different issue altogether.

    You are right that maybe I can/'t help. But, in the very least based on our communication, you might get some closure/understanding. I have my suspicions based on your input. However, I will need more information.

    I am taking notes so I can clarify everything tried and understand completely what you are dealing with. If we have to, we will eventually move to DM.

    Before I continue, how many regions do you have available to bounce to?

    Also, before jumping right to account corruption, can you look at your inventories or recall if you have any buildings/decorations with extra graphic effects (Christmas tree that makes the city snow, perhaps, the Chicago building that makes it smoky, is your city a polluted or green, etc)?

  • GiftedRere1986's avatar
    GiftedRere1986
    Rising Scout
    14 days ago

    My final input for this problem, if having tried all of the troubleshooting suggested and the issue persists... I'm curious, how many players have buildings like Chicago Skyline (this also fits in the timeline for some players), try removing it.

    I am compiling a list of possible buildings that have extra/visual graphic effects that may be contributing to the GPU load and memory leaks.

  • ElwinAmigo's avatar
    ElwinAmigo
    Seasoned Scout
    14 days ago

    64198412,

    Before you go and suggest to everyone to purchase a new iPad, think before you speak. We have a newer iPad that does not have the A12Z Bionic Chip and we still get the Capital City freezing. Just saying.......

  • GiftedRere1986's avatar
    GiftedRere1986
    Rising Scout
    13 days ago

    Do you have the Chicago Skyline building or any other building/decoration with extra graphic visual effects?

    iOS being restrictive with resource management, I wouldn't be surprised if these types of buildings are pushing memory to its limits.

    Try going to a less decorated region and return to the Capital from there if trying to get back to the Capital. 

    If the crashing or pink pixelation occurs in the menus, try putting all landmarks and landscape items into storage as much as possible.

    It's going to be a headache. But, I am convinced that the extra graphics and iOS system restrictions are causing devices to bottleneck or throttle (especially, A-Series devices).