Spore (2008 video game)

Spore
Developer(s)	Maxis
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Designer(s)	Will Wright Alex Hutchinson Jenna Chalmers Chaim Gingold
Programmer(s)	Andrew Willmott
Artist(s)	Michael A. Khoury
Composer(s)	Brian Eno Cliff Martinez
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows Mac OS X
Release	AU: September 4, 2008 EU: September 5, 2008 NA: September 7, 2008[1][2]
Genre(s)	God game, life simulation, real-time strategy
Mode(s)	Single-player

Spore is a 2008 life simulation real-time strategy god game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Designed by Will Wright, it covers many genres including action, real-time strategy, and role-playing games. Spore allows a player to control the development of a species from its beginnings as a microscopic organism, through development as an intelligent and social creature, to interstellar exploration as a spacefaring culture. It has drawn wide attention for its massive scope, and its use of open-ended gameplay and procedural generation. Throughout each stage, players are able to use various creators to produce content for their games. These are then automatically uploaded to the online Sporepedia and are accessible by other players for download.

Spore was released after several delays to generally favorable reviews. Praise was given for the fact that the game allowed players to create customized creatures, vehicles, and buildings. Spore was criticized for its gameplay which was seen as shallow by many reviewers; GameSpot remarked: "Individual gameplay elements are extremely simple." Controversy surrounded Spore due to the inclusion of SecuROM, and its digital rights management software, which can potentially open the user's computer to security risks.