Spore coming to Steam?

Author: Joe Martin
Published: 17th December 2008
Comments (12) Stumble
Spore coming to Steam?

Is EA ready to release Spore on Steam, or is this headcrab alien the closest the two will ever get?

Electronic Arts may finally be taking advantage of the Valve's Steam platform it seems, with rumours that Spore is set for release starting to circulate after the EULA for the title is spotted on the Steam storefront.

While not immediately shocking to many, if Spore does see a Steam release then it'll be the first time that Electronic Arts has even tried to release a game on Steam.

Electronic Arts and Valve currently work together on many other projects, with EA publishing retail copies of The Orange Box and Left 4 Dead as well as working with Valve to port the games to other platforms such as the PlayStation 3, but EA has never published on Steam yet. Instead, the mega-publisher has traditionally favoured it's ironically less-favoured EA Store system, which many gamers complain is difficult and restrictive to use.

That said though, Electronic Arts has been trying to turn over a new leaf lately with development moving away from yearly sports titles to more innovative and exciting games such as Mirror's Edge and Spore - could EA finally be moving towards the light?

For now the issue is all just speculation and hear-say as, though the appearance of a Steam EULA for the game is interesting, it is by no means a confirmation of release. Looks like we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed.

If you want to know more about Spore then you can check out our full Spore review and graphical analysis for more details - and be sure to let us know what you think of the game in the forums.
Quote TommyVD 17th December 2008, 10:40
Didn't EA already put Crysis and Crysis Warhead on STEAM a while ago?
Quote steveo_mcg 17th December 2008, 10:41
It'll probably still be loaded down with securom thus negating any benefit of a steam release over just buying it retail, i can't see EA undercutting them selves.
Quote Nikumba 17th December 2008, 11:15
This could be good if EA are going to move over to Steam and drop their shitty online service
Quote plagio 17th December 2008, 11:19
Quote:
Originally Posted by TommyVD
Didn't EA already put Crysis and Crysis Warhead on STEAM a while ago?

Yep, they are both on steam all right and like steveo says, both had Securom even if on steam.
Quote Lepermessiah 17th December 2008, 11:38
Crysis is made by Crytek, Spore is actually made by EA, big diff.
Quote StephenK 17th December 2008, 11:50
I hope I'm not the only one who doesn't get the whole securom on a steam game idea? It's one of the reasons I like steam, the other stuff isnt needed :)

Might finally pick up spore now
Quote tominated 17th December 2008, 11:53
i love steam, but it's not enough to make me even think about getting this game.
Quote Cobalt 17th December 2008, 19:19
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lepermessiah
Crysis is made by Crytek, Spore is actually made by EA, big diff.

Nope. Spore is made by Maxis. Both games are published by EA.
Quote CardJoe 17th December 2008, 22:38
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cobalt
Nope. Spore is made by Maxis. Both games are published by EA.

Crytek is an independant developer which uses EA as a publisher. Maxis is a development studio wholly owned by EA, the full name of which is EA Maxis and which is most commonly linked to the EA Casual or the EA Sims label depending on which territory you are in. Thus, EA didn't work on Crysis but did develop Spore.

Serious business.
Quote dylAndroid 17th December 2008, 23:45
If they drop Securom, I'll consider getting it.
Quote Saivert 18th December 2008, 03:54
Valve imposes no requirements as to what the game should use or not use when it comes to DRM. Valve offers it's own DRM if the developer wants to use it, but if they have their own DRM tech they can just use that. Valve also offers a host of other features from the Steam portfolio and also Source Engine (but that's another thing entirely), but ultimately it's up to the publisher/developer to decide what they want to use or not. Valve would shoot it's own foot if they started to scrutinize or deny publishers access to Steam platform in any way. It's all about the money remember? Steam started out as a platform only for use by Valve itself. But they added more features to it and made a system so games don't necessarily have to be packaged the same way as Valve's own games (put in GCF files for example).

EA would be smart to accept that Steam's DRM is more than enough and drop it's own DRM. It's highly unlikely that they will do this given EA's track record. But doesn't EA want to steer away from this track-record now? This is a tough thing to guess. Sony DADC SecuROM's lobbyists are working hard these days.
Quote notatoad 18th December 2008, 04:16
Quote:
Originally Posted by StephenK
I hope I'm not the only one who doesn't get the whole securom on a steam game idea? It's one of the reasons I like steam, the other stuff isnt needed :)

no, nobody understands it. except presumably some guy who makes decisions at EA, but even that's doubtful.
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