Darkspore and the Problem With Always-Online Games

Yep, Spore had a spin-off game! It was a Diablo inspired action RPG from Maxis... and it is now completely DEAD. But not because no one was playing, but because EA says so.

● Watch Ross Scott's video on the topic:

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● Social links:

● Music used is from the Darkspore OST:

[LGR]

Three years later, progress is being made on a local server to play Darkspore offline!

[McDenis]

I like how EA wanted Maxis to remove the gore from Spore to make it more kid-friendly, then wanted them to make enemies explode into a shower of blood in Darkspore.

[Accursed_Farms]

I figured someone as dedicated to old games as you are would fully appreciate how awful this practice is. Thanks for the referral, I hope in time this message can gain more momentum within the industry. It's insane that we're creating games that are destined to die by design.

[zippydipity]

I've always thought that if a publisher shuts down a game, like Darkspore or Star Wars Galaxies, they should release the source code for the game, or at least the online portion, so that fans can revive the game on their own time if they want.

[AgsmaJustAgsma]

Fun fact: Darkspore's soundtrack was composed by the same dude who did Mad Max: Fury Road's.

[Doctorgeo]

"Games as a service." Taking away ownership and "graciously" permitting you to play the game.

[fountaincap]

Imagine if publishers applied the same practices to books. You buy a book, it works fine for a few years, and then one day you open it to find blank pages because the ink is no longer supported.

[RockBottomRiser]

This is the video game equivalent to the early 20th century where countless films were lost because the people with money couldn't be bothered to preserve them. Such a shame.

[random]

You should make a series called "Games that are Literally Impossible to Play Anymore"

[mrpositronia]

Publishers should have some refund policy for games they kill.

[wesleybcrowen]

While this game was nothing special really, seeing literally dead games like these pile up with barely any chance of preservation value (that is, the playability) is mortifying.

[alexanderveritas]

*_”The games you pay for are not necessary yours to keep.”_*

I couldn’t think of a more appropriate slogan for EA.

[jhhwild]

People are always going back to old games, rediscovering them and enjoying the nostalgic value. But future generations won't be able to enjoy the games we played which sucks. I mean imagine if Mario Bros. was online only and they took down the servers, nobody would be able to enjoy it today. Imagine if they did this with movies. Like they made Citizen Kane into an online only movie and then shut down the servers so that nobody can watch it again. It is maddening, we should preserve art, not put it on a temporary server.

[SawedOffLaser]

I always get really sad when I hear a game is dead and gone forever. Now, because someone said so, no one can ever play it. I hadn't heard about the game until now, and maybe I would have tried it, but now I can't. I personally think it shoulc mandatory for publishers to patch games so that they can be played offline once the servers go down.

[PlayStationPaul]

Any game that has no offline single player I just ignore period, easily done. There's enough single player out that I won't ever have to buy into that crap.

[Mrcharrio]

I got this game as a gift but never played it, now I can't it seems.
What a turd thing to do for a company

[TheBenSanders]

I mean the only games that should require an internet connection should be an MMO.

[mariaer]

This is the reason that always online DRM outraged me so much, and why I'd rather download cracked versions of it than buy it. My money is limited enough as it is without spending it on taking a game on loan.

[arrow]

Always online DRM isn't just bad for consumers, its bad for marketing! Like, one of the reasons your buying a game in a physical copy is because you know, YOU MAY NOT HAVE INTERNET!

[wabbit]

I had this game in my Steam wishlist since it came out, waiting for a price drop but it was just left to rot in the store sitting at full-price. Never on sale, never reduced in price. What a kick in the face to the people who made it and to the people who bought it.