Darkspore beta sign-ups begin

During the 2010 EA studio showcase at the publisher's headquarters in Redwood City, California, a creature rose from the shadows. That beast was revealed to be Darkspore, a spin-off of EA's Spore franchise.

No release date has been attached to the sci-fi action role-playing game, but gamers wanting to learn the first details now have that opportunity. Today Maxis opened a beta program sign-up page for Darkspore. According to the page, signing up will grant users the ability to "be first to get details on the beta program," a likely indicator that the beta isn't coming anytime soon.

For more on the game--which meshes character creation with Diablo-style hack-and-slash action--check out GameSpot's coverage of the hour-long Darkspore Comic-Con panel from July. At the panel, Maxis designers spoke at length about the title and explained, "This is not a sequel to Spore. It's not an expansion pack. It's a brand-new game."