Electronic Arts today announced that a Space stage expansion pack is in development for Spore, with a release expected next spring.

The expansion will allow players to beam down their creatures from their spaceships, exploring new planets and going on missions. A new Adventure Creator will allow for the creation of custom missions, which can be shared online.

The company also confirmed earlier retailer listings, officially announcing the Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack. In stores worldwide November 18, the Creepy & Cute pack will include 100 new components for creating creatures.

These components will be themed in two styles: charming / cartoony and scary / monster-like.

Retail entries for the first Spore expansion pack, reportedly entitled the "Cute & Creepy Parts Pack," appeared on online retailers including GameStop and Amazon, only to be quickly taken down.

Fan site Hooked on Spore, pointing to Google caches of GameStop and Amazon pages, noticed that both retailers listed the product as releasing on November 18, while GameStop pegged the game at a $19.99 price point as well.

Listings by retailers change often and are not a guarantee of release dates or prices, though when multiple retailers offer the same information simultaneously it suggests a central source, likely the game's publisher.

Ever wonder what would happen if StarCraft and Spore were combined? Here you go:

In a rather impressive display of the ingenuity, players of Maxis' PC evolution effort Spore have manged to recreate numerous units from Blizzard's acclaimed PC RTS series StarCraft, resulting in the bodacious screenshots above.

Unfortunately, the original report, as found by StarCraftWire.net, appeared over at Korean website Ruliweb, making it difficult to discern how or even if players can take control of these creations within their own Spore universe.

Update: Spore players can find the creatures on this Sporecast.

Following up on the "mis-communication" that threatened to ban Spore users from their game if they discussed the title's controversial DRM on the official forum, publisher EA has explained that the fiasco stemmed from an "over-zealous community volunteer."

"These comments are absolutely not true or in-line with EA's moderation policy," Electronic Arts informed Kotaku. The post in question claimed that DRM discussion would put users "at risk of banning which in some cases would mean you would need to buy a new copy to play Spore."

The game's official message board ties posting privileges to the Spore account one creates upon installation and uses to access the actual game, with EA stressing that the volunteer is not considered an employee.

EA's official word corroborates earlier information from another forum moderator.

"You are not going to lose your game for posting a comment," moderator sporemasterladym wrote in response to the initial outcry. "It is okay to discuss issues on this forum as long as it's done in a respectful manner and there are no personal attacks. This includes the DRM and other controversial issues. Just keep it civil."

Maxis' chart-topping evolution simulator Spore has sold over a million units since it was released on PC, Mac and Nintendo DS earlier this month, publisher EA revealed today.

Sales were not broken down by platform, which will undoubtedly lead to more arguments regarding the game's controversial copy protection. However, EA noted that over 25 million user-made creatures have been uploaded to the Sporepedia--a feature only available in the PC and Mac release of Spore and the Creature Creator.

"Spore is a hit," declared EA Games president Frank Gibeau. "Will Wright's latest delivers an incredibly diverse game that appeals to casual gamers and the core alike. We're off to a great start moving into the holiday season and believe Spore will deliver a platform of creativity for gamers of all stripes for years to come."

The controversy surrounding EA Maxis' PC evolution simulator Spore and its DRM continues to escalate, with studio owner and publisher Electronic Arts now facing a class action lawsuit due to the title's use of SecuROM copy protection software.

Whereas most of the controversy thus far has stemmed from the limited number of installs available to legitimate owners, the claims of plaintiff Melissa Thomas lay with the undisclosed installation of the SecuROM software that enables the above practice.

Filed on September 22, the suit argues that Thomas and "all others similarly situated" would not have bought the game had EA disclosed the title's installation of SecuROM. It claims that SecuROM prevents unspecified user actions and programs from operating, with the software only removable if "the consumer completely wipes their hard drive through reformatting or replacement of the drive."

The "aggregate claims of plaintiff and the proposed class members" are said to exceed the sum of $5 million, according to legal documents obtained by Courthouse News Service, with the suit specifically seeking "actual damages, individual restitution, equitable relief, civil penalties, cost and expenses of litigation, including attorneys' fees, and all further relief available" from Electronic Arts.

Relevant quotes from the document follow... Read more

An apparent case of "mis-communication" led to moderators on the official Spore message board threatening to ban posters from playing EA Maxis' PC evolution simulator if they discussed the title's controversial DRM.

After inquiring about the DRM situation on the official Spore board, jpfrostfox's thread was locked, with the following added by a forum moderator:

SecuROM as been discussed and discussed so much and it causes arguments in threads. If you want to talk about DRM SecuROM then please use another fansite forum. If there is any change you will be able to read it on the official Spore site.

Please do not continue to post theses thread or you account may be at risk of banning which in some cases would mean you would need to buy a new copy to play Spore.

In order to post on the forum, posters must sign in with the Spore account tied to their game, with players only allowed one account for each copy of the game they purchase.

Following the initial posting, moderator sporemasterladym stepped in, claiming that the above was representative of "a mis-communication issue somewhere."

"You are not going to lose your game for posting a comment," the moderator wrote in a separate thread found by Kotaku. "It is okay to discuss issues on this forum as long as it's done in a respectful manner and there are no personal attacks. This includes the DRM and other controversial issues. Just keep it civil."

Faylor's Take: As a former forum moderator, I certainly sympathize with the plight of those that have been tasked with watching over the official Spore forums.

I'm also familiar with the practice of empty threats, such as this... Read more

EA Games president Frank Gibeau promised to revamp and further loosen the controversial DRM requirements in recent releases Spore (PC) and Crysis Warhead (PC). His statement was not without a few backhanded comments in the direction of the very vocal anti-DRM community.

"We're extremely pleased with the reception Spore has received from critics and consumers but we're disappointed by the misunderstanding surrounding the use of DRM software," Gibeau wrote in the statement on MTV Multiplayer. He also announced that Spore would soon gain the ability to be authorized on five computers instead of three.

Gibeau reminded Multiplayer that the coming deactivation capability is still in the works. It was separately announced today that Crytek's EA-published Crysis Warhead would get the same deactivation program.

"We assumed that consumers understand piracy is a huge problem... Read more

Responding to fan outcry that legitimate owners of Spore (PC) could only create one online account for the evolution simulator, developer Maxis has announced plans to implement a new system that will allow multiple screen names per account.

In essence, the move allows each account to have up to five sub-accounts, dubbed screen names. Each screen name has almost all the perks of an individual account, including proper accreditation for created creatures in the Sporepedia.

The one flaw in the system lies with achievements. Until an update for the game is released, achievements may be improperly awarded to the wrong screen name.

"If I'm logged and play for 99 hours, and then I log off and my sister logs in and plays for 1 hour, she'll get the honor of the 100 hours achievement, and I won't... Read more

Now available at FileShack is the v1.01 patch for Spore (PC), courtesy publisher Electronic Arts and developer Maxis.

The update is said to fix some bugs, address some community complaints, and implement a few new cheat codes in the recently released evolution simulator. It is not yet known if this patch provides the promised DRM loosening.

The complete patch notes follow:

Features
• New Cheat: "evoadvantage". Enter this cheat when are starting a new Creature game to choose any creature from the Sporepedia. Start a new game with one of your more evolved creatures!... Read more

EA Maxis' PC everything-sim Spore will soon get an update loosening one of its copy protection limits and allowing customers to de-activate existing installations of the game.

The game's three-installation limit has sparked full-blown Internet Rage for users' inability to de-activate installations in a method like Apple's iTunes. "Right now, with our solution, you can't. But there is a patch coming for that," EA representative Mariam Sughayer told MTV Multiplayer. No timeframe other than "near future" was given for the update.

EA also provided some numbers which it claims are a sample--not actual sales figures--backing up earlier claims that the three-install limit affected less than one percent of users. Sure enough, by EA's numbers, 0.9% of Mass Effect PC owners had tried to exceed the limit, while only 0.4% have managed to hit the same barrier with Spore. 83% of Spore owners had installed the game just once.

Spore's other DRM limitations, like restricting online accounts to one per copy, will stay in place.

Consumers upset over the anti-piracy measures imposed on Maxis' Spore by publisher Electronic Arts are now fighting back using the game's creature creator.

Several DRM-themed, anti-EA creatures were found in the Sporepedia by GameCulture. Many make reference to Spore's use of SecuROM technology, which limits users from installing the game more than three times before having to contact Electronic Arts for further installs.

Last week, the Spore product page on Amazon.com was flooded with hundreds of negative reviews of the game, nearly all citing the title's install-limiting DRM.

In response, Electronic Arts downplayed the controversy by stating that fewer than 25 percent of users will ever install the game on more than one machine, with less than 1 percent installing on more than three computers.

Spore publisher Electronic Arts has confirmed that legitimate buyers of Maxis' celebrated PC evolution game can only create one online account per copy, sparking outrage in households with more than one player.

Though the game's manual clearly states that "you may have multiple Spore accounts for each installation of the game," EA representative Violet confirmed "that section in the manual was a misprint" on the title's official forum.

One of the game's major selling points, a Spore account allows players to access the game's online functionality and Sporepedia, allowing them to share creations online and automatically populate the in-game universe with new lifeforms.

"There is one Spore registration/account per game/serial code so you... Read more

Those interested in the development phase of Maxis' phase-based sim title Spore are in luck: a number of early prototype games, ranging from star formation to simple OpenGL creature games, have been released by Maxis.

"One of the ways in which we explore possible design directions is by building simple, playable prototypes that we can play around with to get a sense for a particular system," reads the official Maxis site.

"Usually these prototypes are never seen by the public, but we thought some of the more intrepid players out there might enjoy playing around with a few of our early Spore prototypes."

Users can download the games from Maxis' prototype page, which provides a short description for each.

While the release of Spore this weekend has been widely celebrated, many hardcore gamers have been disappointed with what they perceive as a lack of complexity in Maxis' long-awaited title.

MTV caught up with Spore creator Will Wright, and asked him whether the game was designed primarily with the casual player in mind.

Said Wright in response:

I'd say that's quite accurate. We were very focused, if anything, on making a game for more casual players. Spore has more depth than, let's say, The Sims did. But we looked at the Metacritic scores for Sims 2, which was around 90, and something like Half-Life, which was 97, and we decided--quite a while back--that we would rather have the Metacritic and sales of Sims 2 than the Metacritic and sales of Half-Life.

..Part of this, in some sense was: can we teach a Sims player to play an RTS? ..I think the complexity we ended up with was toward that group.

Wright went on to explain that even though Maxis had the casual group in mind, he still enjoys finding complex ways of playing the game, providing the example of starting a war between two saved species in the Space stage--one Klingon, one Romulan--as a sign that the game's depth is partially determined by the player's creativity.

After years of development, and a little hype to go with it, Spore has finally crawled its way out of the development pool and into the lifestream of retail. Already fans are devouring the anticipated game--some to delight, others to disappointment.

Recently I caught up with Spore senior producer Morgan Roarty and asked him whether Maxis is concerned about the game meeting the demands of both casual and traditional gamers. We also touched on cut features, the 2005 GDC demo, and where the game is headed in the future.

Yeah, it was tough at times. It's one of those games that's really easy to imagine other things with.. Spore classically was one of those games where every day people were coming up with--we used to call them "Spore Moments." "What if we added this, what if we added this to that." It was really easy to imagine the possibilities. So I think that's going to speak well to the future for expansions and boosters. I mean, we already have lots of good ideas. Read more..

As Electronic Arts prepares to unleash Maxis' long-awaited life simulator Spore, creator Will Wright has noted his belief that its emphasis on player-made content will have long-term effects in the realm of video games.

"Spore will change the way people look at games forever and change hopefully the perception people have of their own creativity," he told the BBC.

Launching this Sunday in North America and already available elsewhere in the world, Spore (PC, Mac) tasks players with creating their own life form and then helping it evolve from a single-celled organism to a space-dominating race.

The complete game follows the release of the free Spore Creature Creator toolset, which resulted in all sorts of various monstrosities. The full version of... Read more

Will Wright's Spore is virtually guaranteed to be a success, but Colin Sebastian, analyst at Lazard Capital Markets, is the first to try to attach a number to that success: 2 million.

Year-over-year growth for the month of September, however, should not look as good, since September 2007 saw the blockbuster release of Bungie's Halo 3.

Sebastian's guess may well be in tune with publisher Electronic Arts' own expectations. EA Games president Frank Gibeau said yesterday, "[Spore] carries a level of expectations for quality and, frankly, success." EA, however, may not be so focused on the game's sales numbers as the company's ability to monetize Spore as a platform.

The money will start to be raked in this Sunday, September 7, when the evolutionary life-sim goes on sale for PC and Mac alongside a stripped-down Nintendo DS version.

With Will Wright's long-awaited evolutionary life-sim Spore finally done and on its way to stores this weekend, publisher Electronic Arts's tone towards the game has turned financial.

"It's a Will Wright project that carries a level of expectations for quality and, frankly, success," EA Games president Frank Gibeau told Gamasutra. He anticipates the game will serve as "a platform on which we can build a very large and enduring business," much like developer Maxis' previous blockbuster The Sims 2.

Rather than sell content add-ons following the traditional business model driving The Sims series and downloadable content for current games, Gibeau sees Spore taking a new direction. "The idea is so gigantic -- creating and controlling a universe -- [that] we can take it in lots of different ways," he explained.... Read more

With EA Maxis' long-awaited life simulator Spore due on PC and Mac this Sunday, publisher EA has released new screenshots of the game's civilization and space play.

For more on the multi-stage lifeform incubator, check out our latest impressions.