Command and Conquer is one of the classic franchises of the real time strategy genre, with its hours long matches, laced and interlaced with layers of intricacy, having defined what a typical match in the genre should be like. However, when the new, now free to play, Command and Conquer game launches this fall, it might not have that series trademark- in fact matches may be much, much shorter than the hour long investments they used to be.
“We’ve been noticing since the original Generals, the preferred play session has gone done from an hour plus to 30 to 45 minutes,” said Jon Van Caneghem, general manager of developer Victory Games to Polygon. “So we’ve changed the pacing [of Command & Conquer] to deal with that.”
Are you up in arms yet? Don’t be, because he went on to assure Polygon that fans of longer matches would have that option as well.
Speaking about the monetization of the game, he also discussed how the game would not be abusive or exploitative, but that it would instead be like League of Legends- everything unlockable in game, no restrictions via bullshit timers, and generals being sold with perks. He also mentioned that they are toying with the idea of doing starter packs.
“We are toying around with starter packs,” he said. “Maybe selling them for $30 to $40 and including a half-dozen generals and some currency. That would be for players who don’t want to start from scratch and don’t want to be a totally free player.”
Although I originally disliked the idea of a free to play Command and Conquer game, I might be coming around to it after all.