Spore spawns 1 million sales

By Tom Magrino, GameSpotPosted Sep 24, 2008 3:32 pm PT

Despite piracy, EA and Maxis' evolution sim goes platinum in one week; Sporepedia surpasses 25 million creations.

Before Spore launched earlier this month, it seemed as if nothing could steal the spotlight away from Will Wright and EA Maxis' latest life simulation. However, the game proved to be its own worst enemy, as an outcry over the game's digital rights management software sparked a class action lawsuit.

As part of the DRM backlash, many potential customers--500,000 in the first week alone, by Forbes' calculations--have downloaded the game illegally from file-sharing networks. Nonetheless, the so-called "Sim everything" game is still selling well. EA said today that since the game shipped on September 7, more than 1 million copies of the PC, Mac, and Nintendo DS editions have made it into consumers' hands. The game is also available for mobile devices.

EA also touted the popularity of the game's oft-praised Creature Creator. With the number of creatures uploaded to the Sporepedia hanging around 3 million leading up to the game's launch, EA said today that more than 25 million unique digital monstrosities populated its online compendium. As of press time, that number had risen to nearly 26.5 million.

The latest from acclaimed Sim City creator Will Wright, Spore for the PC and Mac gives players the tools to evolve a life-form from its humble protozoan beginnings to a galaxy-spanning empire. Pared down in scope from its desktop counterparts, Spore Creatures on the DS presents a mission-based adventure in which players must rescue a companion after it is mysteriously kidnapped.

Check out GameSpot's reviews of the PC/Mac and DS editions of Spore for more on the game.

111 Comments

  • 1m2sm4rt4u

    Posted Oct 10, 2008 7:42 pm PT

    Hahaha SecuROM crap...these 1 million people (including me) now have this crap DRM thing on their software, and only way to remove it is to reformat hard drive?? lol?? oh, i'm glad ea's gettin sued lol

  • MrEddie

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 4:59 am PT

    1.000.000 copy's sold and how many of these are activated????
    max 999.999 if you ask me.
    I don't like pirating but it seems i don't have much choise anymore (even with this legit copy)
    It's not only EA, its also the games for windows lable i just can't trust anymore.
    Games that are not finished when there in stores,
    min. req. that, not even with a mirical, can't get your game to work and now they tell us how many times we can play the game.
    This was according to every PREVIEW a replayeble game.
    Hope next time they will tell me replayeble, not re-installeble
    sry fr crp eng

  • brian_13un

    Posted Oct 7, 2008 2:53 am PT

    The game sure is great in fact I also send EA my creations

  • hurricaner

    Posted Sep 29, 2008 6:02 pm PT

    please dont mind what i said about the anti its really just nonsence

  • hurricaner

    Posted Sep 28, 2008 12:27 pm PT

    i dont worry about spyware i got anti-spyware , ant-virus , firewall ,anti-anti i got everything i need to protect myself from the drm and more (even the apocalypse!) i bought this game yesterday not what they had 2 years ago that it was open ended, here its closed ended.maxis 6 us ?

  • rachkovsky

    Posted Sep 27, 2008 5:00 pm PT

    This is a nice game!

  • zintarr

    Posted Sep 26, 2008 5:36 pm PT

    500,000 copies pirated. Great job on the DRM! It seems to drive even more people to steal the game. EA scores again.

  • necronaux

    Posted Sep 26, 2008 9:53 am PT

    Be interesting to see sales results if people knew the full extent of its DRM before it was released. And, Will the DRM prevent buying/playing used copies of the game?

  • Hvac0120

    Posted Sep 26, 2008 9:10 am PT

    I might buy this game later if they remove the DRM completely. Otherwise I'm not going to play this game. I don't agree with pirating in any case, so I'm not going that route. I would prefer to just not play the game.

    Apple, Microsoft and now EA (along with others if you search) have had major problems with DRM. When will these companies realize that this is not going to help?

    ChrisMitchell wrote:

    People are always going to pirate stuff, it is the job of the creator to make there products good so people will be willing to pay the asking price. And not to slap them across the face for doing purchasing there product (which is exactly what DRM does).


    Exactly. Treat the criminals as such, not your customers. Also don't put (what amounts to) spyware on someones machine. If you are going to do DRM, go down Microsoft's route where an online activation is required. That has it's flaws, but at least I can call Microsoft every so often after a reinstall and re-activate my products. This doesn't even allow for that.

  • w20046ps1

    Posted Sep 26, 2008 6:34 am PT

    wow

  • w20046ps1

    Posted Sep 26, 2008 6:34 am PT

    wow

  • opollo

    Posted Sep 25, 2008 11:01 pm PT

    1 million sales wow, should of been abt 5million!!
    They would insist on being greedy and everyone who pirated it would of bought it & now its the most pirated game of all time with no follow on sales.
    EA really knows how to please its customers!!

  • PaleShadow

    Posted Sep 25, 2008 10:36 pm PT

    oops. meant "QFT"

    XD

  • PaleShadow

    Posted Sep 25, 2008 10:36 pm PT

    Kenji_Masamune wrote:
    the fact that you can DL the game for free means SecuROM = epic phail.


    ^ QTF!

    That's what I thought too. lol

  • ChrisMitchell

    Posted Sep 25, 2008 7:59 pm PT

    Ok, so they report about 1,000,000 copies shipped total. I am guessing that most of them are from people who purchased it before they knew that it was infected like this. FACT: the game manual (and ads) state that your whole family can play it. However: in order for other family members to play it you must purchase another copy (even if you play it on the same pc)
    FACT: some DRM is ok, as long as it takes the needs of the consumer into consideration. However: requiring that a family with 4 kids who want to play a game purchase 4 copies is down right disgusting of EA.
    FACT: DRM only ever hinders the users that already purchased the game and intend to use the item (movie, game, music ... ) for legitimate purchases.

    Side Note: If you want to burn (press) a dvd movie with copy protection the burner to do it costs over $10,000 buy anyone with an internet connection and access to google (ie. everyone) can find a FREE program to break your copy protection. (Profit to the movie company -$10,000)

    People are always going to pirate stuff, it is the job of the creator to make there products good so people will be willing to pay the asking price. And not to slap them across the face for doing purchasing there product (which is exactly what DRM does).

    Conclusion: I will buy it.... just as soon as the DRM is toned down. Until them, (here is a hint.... Arrrr, I'ee must be leavin yu' maties, I have sum downlodin t' dooo.)

  • zintarr

    Posted Sep 25, 2008 5:31 pm PT

    Spore DRM is crap, EA is crap.

  • icuyo

    Posted Sep 25, 2008 4:21 pm PT

    I feel bad for Maxis and Will , but thats what you get for signing with the devil (EA)ps:I hope the partner thing with Valve STAYS that way , i wouldnt like to see vALVE falling into EA´s claws
    stay sharp Valve!!

  • liam72

    Posted Sep 25, 2008 2:12 pm PT

    Yeah well I don't get it. It's not EA that is punished by piracy, it's Maxis. Will Wright is a genius. Anyway... I bought the game and I'm happy that my money went to something worth it. I would hack a MMORPG game but not Spore... monthly payments costs way too much.

  • Rolemodel1822

    Posted Sep 25, 2008 1:57 pm PT

    More like 1 million victims, INMO.

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