Spore producer: expansions planned, DRM necessary

In light of the EA Maxis‘ Spore going gold, concern once again has hit the PC gaming segment over the definite inclusion of digital rights management (DRM) software with each copy. Many have argued over the integration of SecuROM on executables of The Sims 2 and its expansions, and now that Spore producer Lucy Bradshaw has confirmed Spore will be succeeded by at least one expansion, there’s a whole lot of bickering to come for PC gamers. More details at the full story.

In a short interview with Eurogamer, producer Lucy Bradshaw confirmed that internal studio Maxis has expansions planned for Spore. The producer also re-confirmed that SecuROM will be integrated into every retail copy of Spore.

“When we started Spore, we were thinking about how we’d make an engine that had the possibility of expansion, so yes, we’ll add to the experience,” she told Eurogamer. However, unlike the studio’s million-selling franchise The Sims, Spore‘s engine allows for not only the introduction of more content.

In fact, Bradshaw says that one of the many features that were cancelled for Spore‘s initial release, the Flora Editor, is likely to come as a Spore add-on in the future. “It’s something we eventually want to get out there as it is fun to work with,” she added.

But perhaps more concerning to mainstream PC gamers were the thoughts over DRM software, which Spore will likely arrive with come September. Bradshaw confirms the news announced earlier that SecuROM protection will be included, and that they 10-day authentication will not be implemented.

Like BioWare‘s Mass Effect, the copy protection method will require a one-time online authentication. It will also still limit the installation of one copy of Spore over three different systems.

There was no clarification if subsequent updates to content and Spore would need authentication, nor was there clarification if minor or major changes to hardware would nullify yet another activation from the limited three.

We intend to clear the air soon before Spore ships to shelves, so stay tuned for updates on that.

• EA: Spore goes gold, all green for September release
• Spore goes gold next week; EA hints possible DLC and microtransactions
• E3 2008: EA goes all out on Spore – trailers, presentation galore
• Spore to ditch SecuROM 10-day reauthentication too

Via Eurogamer