Spore expected to sell 3-5 million in 2008

GamesIndustry.biz's Phil Elliott writes: Although most people seem to agree that there's a healthy anticipation building around the forthcoming Will Wright project, Spore, there's also some feeling that its publisher Electronic Arts must manage expectation about its performance and appeal.

"I think Spore will do at least 3 million units as a packaged product, and if it's as good as it looks, it has the potential to do twice that," said Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter.

And the simExchange is currently predicting that the PC and as-yet-unannounced DS editions of the game could combine for 7.5 million units in its lifetime, while its analyst Jesse Divnich believes it could fall "victim to the expectations that EA has set up for the title."