At the end of last year, EA made the announcement that the servers for 2011's Darkspore would be shutting down on 1 March, 2016, rendering the game unplayable. Well folks, that date is just days away, so if you're feeling nostalgic, now's the time to fire it up.

Earlier today, we linked to a report from GameTrailers noting that EA would not be supporting its 2011-released RPG Darkspore in the face of persistent errors. The moderator on the forum in question where this alleged announcement took place, however, is not an EA employee, EA said in an email to Kotaku today.

In his resume, level-designer Jordan Patz claims to have "worked with Maxis to modify Darkspore for release on Xbox/PS3". Wasn't that just a PC game? The résumé has since been modified: it now links to a YouTube video of a flying cat. Very suspicious.

Maxis splices the DNA of Will Wright's Spore with Diablo with today's release of the PC action RPG Darkspore, now available in stores and fine downloadable retailers across North America. I can't wait to play.

Steam makes it easy to get into the beta program for Maxis' Spore spin-off Darkspore. Just head to the Steam web site and install. Darkspore was recently delayed until the end of April.

Sci-fi RPG (and Spore spin-off) Darkspore is the latest release to get pushed back. Originally slated for end of March, EA's PC game is now due April 26 (North America) and April 28 (Europe/Asia). Darkspore devs say they need more time to incorporate user feedback from the beta.

In case our hands-on with Darkspore's action-packed single-player and competitive multiplayer battles weren't enough to whet your appetite for the game, perhaps the full beta trailer will do the trick.

Spore is an amazing creative experience diluted by a broad gameplay focus. Darkspore has one focus: building a better killing machine. I took my monster squad to task in story mode and player-versus-player combat and lived to tell the tale.

Players who pre-order Darkspore will get early access to Maldri and some neat loot.

newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http://www.youtube.com/v/J9nh5gRGz0g&hl=en&fs=1&hd=1","customParams": ,"width":570,"height":360,"ratio":0.615,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube","wrap":true,"agegate":false} );

Darkspore hero Andromeda is one of the 25 heroes coming to EA's strategic action-RPG computer game.

Kotaku got an early look at upcoming PC action role-playing game Darkspore's cooperative multiplayer a couple of weeks back, but this latest video we get a look at the player-versus-player action.

newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http://www.viddler.com/player/ff9e84e1/","customParams":{"flashVars":"fake=1"},"width":570,"height":360,"ratio":0.5625,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"viddler","wrap":true,"agegate":false} );

Electronic Arts is giving us an advanced look at how cooperative play is going to work in upcoming action role-playing game Darkspore.

Here's a closer look at Darkspore, an action game that seems to neatly blend the best bits of Diablo and Spore.

Darkspore is a bit like classic action title Diablo, with a twist: Instead of concentrating on levelling up a single character, you're working to level up a team of heroes, three of which you bring on every mission.

newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http://www.viddler.com/player/2b5d54bc/","customParams":{"flashVars":"fake=1"},"width":570,"height":360,"ratio":0.659,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"viddler","wrap":true} );

Here's the reveal trailer for Darkspore, the intense, fast-paced action role-playing game set in the colourful, friendly Spore universe.

The creators of Spore are going to the dark side with an all-new "fast-paced and intense" sci-fi action-role-playing game known as Darkspore, coming to the Mac and PC next year.