Gamepass Concerns?

The game still works (with online features) if purchased outright from Origin or GOG. Highly recommend the latter for anyone looking to buy it, it's completely DRM-free (technically it's a officially-supported cracked version of the Steam game, without any of its DRM problems), and doesn't require Origin or fighting with EA support.

I've heard mixed success about people getting the game through EA Play / Game Pass. Apparently some people have been able to go to EA support and get a serial code for free (allowing access to servers), but not sure how officially supported this is. Unfortunately it does not seem to work unless you actually go out of your way to contact them AND they agree to do it.

I've heard there is a way to get a serial code through the EA Desktop app but have not been able to verify this.

The actual Steam version has DRM that prevents many mods from working, AND they don't give you a serial code (so no online access) unless you contact EA support. This one I am tracking here https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bugs-Technical-Issues/Steam-users-unable-to-create-Spore-account-or-redeem-game-on/td-p/10069057 especially because it affects people who buy the game outright (not just subscriptions). 280 people have upvoted this but there hasn't been any sort of response from EA yet...

I absolutely think they should either be providing a clear path on how to get a serial code, or, at the very least, warn people before they buy (especially if they buy the game outright, in addition to subscriptions).

I can understand them wanting to prevent people from getting to keep the game after their subscription expires/is cancelled (since that's the whole point of a subscription, you pay for continued access), but the way they've implemented it is a mess, and does nothing more than hurt the already-fragmented community.