Spore becoming a popular BitTorrent pirate game

Posted Sep 14th 2008 1:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: RTS, Sandbox, Simulation, Strategy, Spore

We've been talking all week about Spore and some people's issue with its DRM protection but apparently the mainstream media has finally figured out this might be a real story. Forbes.com has posted up an article suggesting that the DRM set up is causing more people to pirate Spore than what might normally be the case.

According to research firm Big Champagne (yeah, we know) Spore has been downloaded from various BitTorrent web sites 171,402 from September 1-12. While those numbers are not unusual it is unusual for such a game to get those numbers in so short a time. The article also chats with Stardock head man Brad Wardell who feels DRM set ups like Spore do little to head off pirates, saying, "Our focus is on getting people who would buy our software to buy it."

Gallery: Spore

Big Download has the latest Spore information for you including downloads of the free Spore Creature Creator demo as well as a gallery of Spore billboard ads.

Tags: ea, electronic-arts, spore, stardock

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

I was looking forward to Spore, but the final product is not to my liking, so I have decide to steer clear. Were I to give it a go though, I would probably not want to deal with the restrictive DRM, so I understand those 170K+ torrent downloaders.

I'm just hoping that this doesn't happen to some of the games I really do want to play, such as the new Colonization (2K doesn't have a perfect track record in this area) and Fallout 3.Posted at 3:39PM on Sep 14th 2008 by paralipsis

Owned. Thats all I have to say.. :/Posted at 4:07PM on Sep 14th 2008 by Masterofallz

I'm glad I bought it mostly, but don't feel like I got $50 worth of game. Factor in the DRM and I think it's worth about $30. The DRM is terrible for the marketing team; Stardock had it right, focus on the buyers instead of the cheaters.Posted at 5:54PM on Sep 14th 2008 by JCollum

Just because a game you want to play ships with restrictive DRM DOES NOT give anyone the right to steal it. I am interested in playing Spore but the DRM is a big issue with me, so you know what I'm going to do... NOT PLAY SPORE. This isn't one of those 'in your face EA' moments here. They are going to look at these Torrent numbers and think that the DRM is not restrictive enough. These numbers only serve to justify the DRM. If you want to get your point across, don't play the game and let EA know why they aren't getting your money.

...bysmittyPosted at 9:28AM on Sep 15th 2008 by bysmitty

and I don't really feel sorry for them.Posted at 11:05AM on Sep 15th 2008 by Sam

Personally on this kind of topic. I'm of the opinion that DRM makes the people who buy games suffer and is at most a bump in the road to the people who pirate the game.
The DRM never seems to stop them from what I read, in fact half the time the game gets leaked early anyways, but the people who buy it can be seen complaining about it for weeks after the game comes out.
What baffles me is that even the Digital download versions seem to keep the DRM, what's the point of that?Posted at 1:51PM on Sep 15th 2008 by Bluestreak2