From Malcolm Schmitz
What’s evolving at Maxis? Right now, community.
Spore (2008) is one of the most ambitious games of all time– even if that ambition never really paid off for its developers. In Spore, you evolve a species from being a humble cell to being a spacefaring civilization. The game was technically impressive, and even though it was panned at the time, it’s developed a strong cult following.
After five years of radio silence, Spore’s website recently received an update. The game now has an official, moderated Discord community. The company announced that the new Discord server could be a hub for “all of the various communities out there to share a common space”, and “for us to be able to communicate efficiently with all”.
Don’t get too excited- there’s no concrete plans for Spore 2, or even for a large game update. “You can take all those tinfoil hats off,” said a Discord post titled “Setting Expectations”. “Spore is a unique and special game and it is our intent to honor its history.”
But Spore fans aren’t totally out of luck. Spore has recently gotten a new development team within Maxis. They’ve announced that they’re working on getting account creation working again, after years of account registration being broken. They’ve got a lot of cleanup to do behind the scenes, including regaining control of the game’s official X account.
And the Discord has proven popular, receiving more than 1800 users in the four days it’s been open. Those users are posting creations of their own- everything from spine-covered naked mole rats and elaborate robots to uncanny depictions of memes like Skibidi Toilet.
Maxis’ seemingly renewed interest in the game doesn’t mean we’ll get any new content any time soon. But there isn’t anything quite like Spore. In an era where too many companies are happy to let games become lost after only a few short years, it’s great to see a studio supporting their communities– especially the community of one of their oldest and strangest games.
