EA Confirms Spore, Other Games for iPhone

Electronic Arts' (EA) demonstration of Spore running on the iPhone during Apple's introduction of the new iPhone SDK was more than just a technology demonstration. The company has confirmed plans to release Spore for the iPhone, along with other games.

On Thursday, Apple introduced its new iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK), which will be used by third-party developers to create software for the iPhone that will be sold through a new App Store running on the iPhone once a new iPhone 2.0 software update is released in June.

During his presentation, Apple VP Scott Forstall introduced Travis Boatman, EAs executive producer of mobile studios. Boatman showed a development version of Spore running on the iPhone which he said they'd created in about two weeks using Apple's development tools.

Spore is the new game in development from SimCity and The Sims creator Will Wright. The game is expected to be released in September and is also coming to the Mac and Windows. EA has also confirmed that other iPhone games are in development.

An EA spokesman has confirmed with Macworld that the company does indeed have commercial plans for Spore, and said that EA has other games in early stages of development -- the company declined to specify what games those are, however.

"We are actively using the new iPhone SDK to develop games for the iPhone OS," said the spokesman.

Spore for the iPhone will be released for the iPhone in September, at the same time as it will be ready for the Mac and Windows. EA confirmed plans to release Spore for the Mac at Macworld Expo in San Francisco, Calif. this past January -- the company is using TransGaming's Cider technology, as it did with its six Mac game releases in 2007.

"The iPhone's touchscreen and tilt sensitivity is perfectly suited for SPORE," said EA.

Apple's iPhone SDK introduction also garnered kudos from John Riccitiello, EA's CEO. "The animation technology in the iPhone OS enables us to build awesome games. I think iPhone consumers are going to be blown away by the games we create for this platform," said Riccitiello in a statement.