this post was submitted on 15 Jun 2026
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Spore devs say the evolution game's previews were more ambitious than what they were actually making, and they 'built a fantasy in people's minds that was unachievable' (www.pcgamer.com)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) by Agent_Karyo@piefed.world to c/games@lemmy.world
76 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

The evolution sim that was never meant to be.

Original Source:
Spore: An oral history by Jay Castello / Designroom (free registration required)

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[–] wuffah@lemmy.world 76 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (4 children)

Bullshit.

EA did what they’ve been doing for 30 years: buy a competing game studio, release a few token cash grab titles under their beloved name, then shut down the studio and lay off all the developers. EA mediocritized Will Wright’s original vision for Spore, and trashed the last SimCity game with their always-online, closed architecture and slapdash support.

The really insidious part is that EA does make fun games, but they have remade the industry in their image: closed source, online only, DRM-infested, yearly release, day-one “expansion”, cash grab software that inspires none of the community and creativity that used to foster legendary franchises. And, they’ve killed countless game studios to create a quasi-monopoly to do it with.

I am still bitter over what they did to Maxis. I will never buy another EA game for as long as I live.

[–] sydd@lemmy.world 3 points 15 hours ago

SimCity is the last time I was excited for a modern remake of a game, and likely the last. It was such an incredible letdown, you couldn't even open the game at launch because of the always online stuff. Most every remake of a classic has been terrible ever since, I'm happy to be proven wrong though.

[–] MalikMuaddibSoong@startrek.website 7 points 21 hours ago

The mediocrity as I understand was from the rift that developed in the team about the vision of the game being a sandbox vs a campaign.

However, I witnessed a new divide among the team which was less well-known; as more core game developers (such as myself) were recruited to help finish the game, a cultural gap emerged between the newer ‘gameplay’ team and the older ‘Sim’ team. The former group (which went on to spearhead Darkspore) was primarily concerned with how Spore played as a game. Were the mechanics engaging? Did the player’s choices matter? Was the game replayable? In contrast, the ‘Sim’ team carried the traditional Maxis DNA and was more comfortable with Spore as a toy box. Could the players express themselves? Was sharing one’s creations with other players meaningful? Did the game spark the imagination?

These cultural divides ruined Spore’s chances to be a focused, cohesive experience.

http://www.designer-notes.com/2013/09/

[–] ampersandrew@lemmy.world 22 points 1 day ago (1 children)

"Closed source" is reaching. As much as I think Doom shows why it should be desirable, let alone not taboo, it's always been the industry standard and applies to 99.99% of games.

[–] wuffah@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

Certainly. I probably should have said “extensible” or “mod-able”.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 4 points 1 day ago

that was the fate of cnc, they released the cnc4 for a cashgrab then pratically ruined the franchise(online version of the "spinoffs' dont count)