Shoutie

[the Monkeys Uncl...]

UPDATED MAY 30, 2007
Looks like Gamestop is being a little shifty on the release date... they moved it again, this time to March 3, 2008.


UPDATED MAY 20, 2007
Gamestop narrowed down their estimated release date for Spore to Feb 18, 2008, from an earlier estimate of March 1, 2008.


UPDATED MAY 9, 2007
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.</p>
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).


UPDATED MAY 3, 2007
EBGames now has Spore up for pre-order, saying the release date is October 1, 2007

[djVanDrake]

Typically, how firm are release dates from Maxis? I don't really pay that much attention so I don't know. Do they do a lot of build-up for a grand release?

[the Monkeys Uncl...]

Well, what happened with SC4 was, they said they were going to release it at the end of the year, it was all hyped up, and then they delayed it to the beginning of 2003. Around that time though, they were putting out regular updates on their website to build it up before the release, yes.

That's one of the reasons why I think Spore is also going to be delayed at least once.

[usman]

Spore has been delayed more than once. It was suppose to come out before in the year 2006 then it got to be at Q1 of 2007 and now we are hearing about the autumn release. Now that doesnt mean it can't be delayed again, but I think those delays are more then enough and that too since a game has been announced.

Like say for next version of Simcity which hasn't been announced yet, its ok since we have no idea what its going to be like and etc. But a game which has been announced say over two years ago, it sort of sucks to be waiting for so long.

[Greyleaf]

I'm hoping it will be released by then. A summer release would make me happier, though, 'cause then at least I'd a solid chunk of free time to tackle it That, and it'd open the stage for SC5 ... as long as they don't spend all that time on Sims work ... (I wouldn't mind a new version, but the expansion packs drive me crazy).

[the Monkeys Uncl...]

From Simphoni.net

Will Wright has further narrowed down the release period for Spore to some time in September 2007, which is less than six months away! Still no specific date though. Fred Volgestein at Wired reports:

“If there’s one difference that I could possibly make in the world that I could choose to make,” Wright says, it would be to give people a better way to calibrate their long-term thinking. Spore -- which he says has a “Septemberish” release date -- is an attempt to do that, and in doing so, to “change the world.”

Some big statements from Mr. Wright, but in the middle there is our long sought after release date. Hopefully he'll narrow it down even more soon.




(Gil, you should have posted that in this thread)

[Gil]

oops..

[Jirnsum]

Spore is now on pre-order at EB-games with the following comment:

Pre-Release
Ships 10/1/07 $49.99

http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product_id=646589

[the Monkeys Uncl...]

Good to see a real concrete release date! I kind of hope it doesn't come out at the exact same time as SC5 though; I wouldn't know which one to play!

[edcaze2k3]

hmm.. i'd say that makes 2008-2009 the most likely release for SimCity 5. i still think it will be released near the start of 2009 myself. anyways... wrong thread for that, i guess

[toroca]

UPDATED MAY 3, 2007
EBGames now has Spore up for pre-order, saying the release date is November 10, 2007.

Look again, Monkeyboy.

Pre-Release
Ships 10/1/07 $49.99

That's not November 10th, that's October 1st.

[the Monkeys Uncl...]

D'oh! Apparently I'm unable to read the m/d/y format.

[Lain]

that's because it's silly anyway. should be d/m/y, so spore has been released the 10th of january... didn't you notice?

[Jirnsum]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Spore Pushed to 2008, EA Outlines Plans [02:20 am]10 Comments - Chris Remo
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.

"We continue to have enormous confidence in Spore as a franchise but have made the call not to include this title in our fiscal year financial plan," said CFO Warren C. Jenson. Responding to analyst queries regarding the current status of the game, Riccitiello added, "I've had the chance to review the title three times in my short return to EA, and it looks fantastic."

The CEO stressed the importance of giving the ambitious game enough time to create a franchise with lasting power "like The Sims." Speaking to Shacknews in 2005, designer Wright said on developing Spore, "It's a challenge. Quite a challenging project, but I've got an amazing team on it, and I'm actually very satisfied with where it's going."

EA executives frequently pointed to the company's increasing emphasis on internal intellectual property rather than licensed titles. "In general, I'd say that if you go back five or six years EA was probably over-tilted to license properties," admitted Riccitiello. "We saw the writing on the wall in terms of the cost of licensed properties rising. [Chairman and prior CEO] Larry [Probst] and the team redirected the team to owned intellectual property. That has paid dividends and there [has been] big investment made in the last 12 months to further enhance that strategy."

Jenson noted EA Montreal's Army of Two, EA Black Box's SKATE, EA Canada's EA Playground, EA Montreal's Boogie, and an unannounced Steven Spielberg-produced Wii game as examples of new EA IP slated to be released this fiscal year. He also confirmed that the nearly-announced The Simpsons game will be released this holiday season.

The three current generation home consoles as well as Nintendo DS were said to be receiving the largest allocation of games. In the current fiscal year, approximately 20-23 games will be released across PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, 10-13 on Wii, and 10-13 on Nintendo DS. The company plans to retain its leading market share across most platforms, with the goal of achieving the leading market share among third parties on Nintendo platforms. Regarding EA's strategy for the coming years, North American publishing general manager Frank D. Gibeau said, "Our goal absolutely is to be the biggest murderers on murderers' row."

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/46865

EA: Spore May See Delays
By Andrew Groen: 2007-05-08 22:15:12


The Associated Press is reporting today that EA has issued a warning that their widely anticipated evolution game, Spore, may not be ready for release this year. In fact, they’re saying it may not be ready until the second quarter of 2008.

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).

The AP report was also rife with stock market jargon. The gist of it is that when news of Spore’s suspected delays came out, quite a few holders ditched their stocks. It also says that EA’s numbers have been taking a bit of a hit this year as compared to last year. Even though last year they took a big hit in comparison to the year before that.

I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m no stock market guru, but the way I understood it, 2006 was supposed to be the weak year for publishers as the market gravitated towards the new technology and installed bases were at a minimum. Still, I wouldn’t worry too much about poor little EA. They’re the biggest publisher in the world for good reason. They’ve got Command and Conquer 3: The Tiberium Wars, a Harry Potter game, and Medal of Honor: Airborne all slated for Q2 of this year, so you can expect them to make a killing in round two. Not to mention Boogie and Rock Band are going to sell millions.

We’ll keep an eye on EA in the future to see if maybe, just maybe, the giant is falling.

http://www.cinemablend.com/games/EA-Spore-...elays-4127.html

No more Spore in '07
Will Wright's ambitious evolution/civilization/creature creation title is now being targeted for Spring 2008.
By Tor Thorsen, GameSpot
Posted May 8, 2007 5:44 pm PT

Though console owners will have a cornucopia of titles to choose from this fall, PC gamers were looking forward to one in particular. Spore, the hugely ambitious new project from Sims creator Will Wright, was slated to be out later this year, and was presumed by many to be one of Electronic Arts' tentpole holiday releases.

Well, presume no longer. Today during a post-earnings report conference call with analysts, newly re-installed EA CEO John Riccitiello shattered many-a-gamer's dreams by announcing that Spore is no longer on the publisher's 2008 fiscal year calendar, which ends on March 31, 2008.

"Spore is a title we have enormous confidence in," Riccitiello told analysts. "I've had the chance to review the title three times in my short return to the EA and it looks fantastic. I will also tell you that its release will be right up [to] the bubble in Q4 [of fiscal '08], if not sometime in early fiscal '09 so we don't feel comfortable in forecasting it." No specific mention was made of the DS version of the game.

As is often the case with high-profile titles, quality control concerns were behind the delay. "We're focusing on quality to make sure we build a franchise that feels more like The Sims, a franchise that we hope...to see around for some time in the future." Riccitiello promised, hinting the publisher has big plans for the property.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6170303.html

[Lain]

That's next year!! they sure take their time.

[toroca]

To be honest, I would have been surprised if there HADN'T been any delays in releasing it. As ambitious a project as they've made it, I think it's better to take longer and do it right than to release it too soon and have it be completely bug-ridden. *coughSimCity4cough* Oh excuse me...

[Jirnsum]

Pushing stuff back happens. Howerver, in MArch Wright predicted September-October 07. Now we get a "we don't feel comfortable in forecasting it": that's quite a step backwards IMO.

[djVanDrake]

Well crap! They must be having some issues.

[Gil]

on the other hand, it gives me some more time to save for a new computer

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.

What? Gamers not excited?

[usman]

Oh boy! I really thought Spore would come out around Q3 of this year since its holiday season at that time and companies try to release there big games at that time. But considering this is around the third delay which has occured, I surely hope the end product would be something that would blow our minds away.

And btw, I guess we won't be seeing the next Simcity till 2009 for sure.