Hopes of Spore being released sometime in late 2007 or even early 2008 were dashed yesterday as news that the game has been pushed back more than half a year, after the end of this fiscal year (which ends in March). That means it will likely come out in the spring, or even summer, of 2008.

Shacknews reports:

In an analyst conference call following the release of Electronic Arts’ earnings report for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007, EA executives announced that the release of Will Wright’s upcoming evolution simulator Spore has been pushed out of 2007. EA CEO John Riccitiello, who recently returned to the company after co-founding Elevation Partners, indicated that there is a possibility the game will be released at the end of EA’s coming fiscal year ending March 31, 2008, but it is more likely it will be pushed into the following quarter.

Cinemablend reports:

Spore is a positively massive project that is nothing less than one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken. For this reason most people are going to be understanding of delays. After all, delays are only annoying when the game nears release. When the delay comes long before gamers get excited it’s not so bad. At least now we’ll know the delays are coming instead of being tricked into driving to Gamestop four different times (re: Dead or Alice 4).

Initial reation in the forum discussion is mixed: people are obviously disappointed, many concede that it’s better to spend time making a finished, high quality game then release it with so many bugs it’s unplayable. Thanks to Jirnsum for the tip!

As a result of the announcement, EA stocks fell over 3.5% today closing at $51 a share, down $1.88. Spore was estimated to bring in over $200 million in revenues this year, says Next Gen Entertainment.