Spore is to be officially released on September 7. So, at this time, gamers can only download the game (99% of it to be exact) and watch it sit on their HDDs for five more days. The remaining 1% will become available on launch day.
According to the publisher, the download and install should take between 30 and 60 minutes.
Electronic Arts decided to allow fans to pre-load the the game so company servers wouldn’t crash from all the download requests, a little something that is just bound to happen given the game’s notoriety.
It’s a good idea, no doubts about it. However, a better idea would’ve been to offer the digital version of Spore at a smaller price. There’s no actual package or retailer involved in the deal, but EA insists on slapping the same $50 price tag on both retail and downloadable versions.
Spore is available for download over here.