On its Support Page, EA has stated that in concerns to refunding money spent in the alpha, “For those of you who bought The C&C Ultimate Collection, your early access to the beta will be honored once production of this title resumes under a new studio. We would like to thank you for your time and interest in Command & Conquer, and we look forward to sharing the news with you when production resumes on this title in the future.”

Considering the amount of resources already expended on the project, it would be a waste to just cancel it. Will this next iteration of the free to play title be worth it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Visceral Games’ Star Wars Title

When it was announced that EA would be exclusively developing and publishing games based on the Star Wars license, the news also came about that internal studios DICE, Visceral Games and Bioware would be working on a title each. Each game would use Frostbite 3, and while we’ve seen DICE’s Star Wars: Battlefront, we’re yet to find out what Visceral Games is working on. Maybe a next-generation Republic Commando? How about a resurrection of Star Wars 1313? Hopefully it’s not a sequel to The Force Unleashed – seriously, what the hell happened with the second game? – but at this point, we wouldn’t mind a psychological horror action title that explores the darker regions of the Star Wars universe. Speaking of horror…

Dead Space 4

Despite stories of EA being disappointed with the franchise and subsequently pulling the plug on the same, Dead Space is still very much alive. How long will it be before Isaac Clarke returns again to face the latest round of unimagined and repulsive horrors that the Markers inflict? For that matter, will there be a brand new protagonist this time around, exploring a new far-flung region with Necromorphs inhabiting? The ending to Dead Space 3’s Awakened DLC certainly indicated that there are enough space zombies to go around. Expect Dead Space to be revived for the next-generation, though when it will be revealed remains to be seen.

Battlefield: Bad Company 3

The Battlefield: Bad Company team has been on a long vacation since the release of the second game…or so EA and DICE would have us believe. It’s no secret that there’s a demand for the game to return, especially since the last two installments in the Battlefield franchise have been core titles. Now that DICE has had enough time to familiarize itself with next-gen consoles and Battlefield 4 is finally released, is it any stretch to guess that the next Battlefield game could very well be Bad Company 3, powered by Frostbite 3?

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare

While it may seem surprising that PopCap Games first person/third person shooter tower defence hybrid would need the power of Frostbite 3 to realize its vision, we can’t say we mind having the engine powering Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare. From tons of zombies on screen, a variety of plants attacking at once, huge bosses, airstrikes, the disco zombies and cartoonish albeit highly detailed environments, Garden Warfare looks like a blast. Interestingly, as far as next-gen consoles go, it will only be available on the Xbox One despite making an appearance on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 as well. How will Frostbite 3 benefit from the Xbox One’s power in this case? We’ll need to wait and find out.

Bioware’s Star Wars Title

If you had told any Knights of the Old Republic fan that Bioware might be working on a Star Wars-related title in the near future, the excitement would have been palpable. Granted, Bioware DID work on a KOTOR title which ended up being the MMORPG The Old Republic, which failed to click despite its large budget and scope. But it’s been a long time since we’ve seen a true follow-up in the series, continuing the legacy of Revan and unlocking more of the mystery behind the Sith. The thought of Bioware creating a next-generation Knights of the Old Republic using Frostbite 3? Now that’s something we can get behind. Even if it turned out to be something else – perhaps a brand new RPG franchise –we’d still be excited. The point is, Dragon Age: Inquisition and Mass Effect 4 might be the cat’s pyjamas but Bioware Star Wars titles will always have the Force.

Which other games do you believe are in production and use the Frostbite 3 engine? Which games do you wish to see in the coming years from EA using the same? Let us know in the comments below.

Those who participated in the closed alpha will be refunded. As of now, the plan is seemingly to use what’s already been created for another Command & Conquer. However, an EA spokesperson told Polygon the development team has been disbanded. “The team at Victory Games will be disbanded. Wherever possible, we are working to help these talented people find other opportunities within EA.”

It’s a real shame, especially since Victory Games was adamant to go back to what made the C&C franchise so awesome. What are your thoughts on this recent development?

The game is being developed by Victory Games, formerly known as Bioware Victory; a division of EA (Electronic Arts), the studio was founded in 2010 with the specific goal of continuing the Command and Conquer franchise and is the third team to have been tasked with the series development after Westwood Studios and EA Los Angeles.

Running on the Frostbite 3 game engine, putting it graphically on par with games like Battlefield 4 and Need for Speed: Rivals. When the game was first announced it was being called a direct sequel to Command & Conquer: Generals, which launched in 2003.

It has since then be repurposed into the first Free To Play (FTP) installation in the series. It was slated for release in 2013 and was going to be available exclusively on EAs digital games service, Origin.

• 1. Development
• 2. Gameplay
• 3. Factions
• 4. Cancellation

Development

Following the successful launch of Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, the LA based development team “EA Los Angeles” was struck by a series of layoffs. With so much of the development team’s staff having been laid off, the future of the iconic RTS series was unsure. The first time that a new entry in the popular series was announced came alongside news of a newly formed video game studio called “Victory Games” in February 2011. Victory Games would be built from new staff and previous staff members from EA Los Angeles development teams.

During their first Q&A blog session, the developers had no problems publically announcing that they were indeed developing the next entry in the Command & Conquer. In mid-August of 2012, Electronic Arts officially announced that Command and Conquer: Generals 2 was to be re-purposed as a new entry into the Free to Play model of gaming. Following the official announcement, which came via a Dev Blog, it was made clear that the game would simply be titled Command and Conquer. This game is set to be the first in the series that will implement the use of DLC.

This DLC will be specifically built for the free to play model. Content that was designed for C&C Generals 2 will also make the transition into Command and Conquer. Continuing with the general dislike of the FTP model in the games industry, this news was not well received by the loyal Command and Conquer fan base.

They expressed displeasure at the planned lack of a single player campaign. In response to this EA President Frank Gibeau has said that there is still a possibility of a single player story. “The beauty of free-to-play is that we can adjust and adapt to what we’re hearing as opposed to, ‘I’m sorry, it’s two months from ship and it is what it is.’ It’s a very different model because you don’t have to build as much. You build in response to your audience.”

Later that year, a single player story was confirmed for the game, giving it a single player campaign.

Gameplay

Command and Conquer will be the same as the majority of the other entries in the series in regards to gameplay. The player will view the battlefield from above and use the mouse to select their units and execute various battle commands; this means that the player will once again have control of large armies with a high degree of customization depending on which units have been included. The development team have made sure to let fans know that unlike Command and Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, this game will not include a population cap (which was not well received) and that it will also see the return of base building, a long standing key feature of the franchise.

Factions

The Command and Conquer Generals factions are being carried over for the free to play game. They are:

People’s Republic of China. The PRC are heavily reliant on sheer military might, but not supremacy. They use extreme brute force and powerful weaponry instead of tactics. They are hindered by limited air units but make up for it with numerous heavily armoured battle tanks. Because of this, the PRC are an assault based army, requiring the player to “meat grind” with their units, constantly pushing forward despite casualties to ensure victory. The main disadvantage to having such a massive and powerful army is that its forces are generally slower on the ground, leaving them open to swift hit and run attacks.

Global Liberation Arm. The GLA are the least technologically advanced out of the three factions, making use of extremely fast but weak ground vehicles. They have zero air capabilities meaning that they must engage guerrilla warfare, this means tunneling beneath the foe, employing the use of suicide bombers, hijacking enemy vehicles and executing ambushes. The GLA gather resources at a faster rate than the other factions thanks to their resourceful salvaging techniques, they rely heavily on an infantry based army model.

The United States of America. The USA is the most technologically advanced faction in the game. They take to the battlefield with a potent combination of Land, Sea and Air forces. The USA employs the use high end technology to defeat the opposing factions; they make use of drones to repair damaged vehicles.

They use various pieces of laser based technology to guide weapons fire and even use lasers to create defensive structures. The American infantry make use of Snipers and Commandos as well as demolition tactics when in the field. They also bring the largest air based fleet to the battlefield, using air strikes and fuel air bombs to great effect. The downside of this mighty technological force however, is the vast wealth required to fund it. The USA takes vast quantities of resources to field, this means that as well as funding a powerful army, the player will need to sacrifice force to protect their resources.

Cancellation

As of October 29th 2013, the game was officially cancelled with all development and  production, stopped. The team that was working on the game has been disbanded and EA aims to find them suitable replacement roles within the company. In a statement that was publicly released on the games official website, EA assured all closed Alpha build participants that any and all money spent would be refunded to them. The announcement reads:

“Generals,

Thank you for your participation over the last few months in the Command & Conquer closed alpha test. It’s been much appreciated, and you’ve been instrumental in helping define what a new Command & Conquer experience should and shouldn’t be.

Part of being in a creative team is the understanding that not all of your choices are going to work out. In this case, we shifted the game away from campaign mode and built an economy-based, multiplayer experience. Your feedback from the alpha trial is clear: We are not making the game you want to play. That is why, after much difficult deliberation, we have decided to cease production of this version of the game. Although we deeply respect the great work done by our talented team, ultimately it’s about getting you the game you expect and deserve.

Over the next 10 days we will be refunding any and all money spent in the alpha. If you have a question about your refund, please contact help.ea.com.

We believe that Command & Conquer is a powerful franchise with huge potential and a great history, and we are determined to get the best game made as soon as possible. To that end, we have already begun looking at a number of alternatives to get the game back on track. We look forward to sharing more news about the franchise as it develops. Thank you again for your participation and support.

– Victory Studios

“From both a features and an ongoing, adding-to-the-product point of view, it was more exciting to go the free-to-play route than it was the boxed route. We have fans in every country around the world: Eastern Europe, China, you name it… We want to be able to bring this game to everyone, and I think not going the retail route was the way that we could expand our audience to a bigger audience.”

Of course, there will be plenty of content updates with new missions,f actions, and even additional universes added to the mix with the new “Live Service” that Victory is looking to introduce.

Caneghem stated that, “Yeah, I think maybe the days of a boxed [Command & Conquer] release are probably over.”

Victory Games took the stage at EA’s Gamescom 2013 press conference to showcase the upcoming free to play Command & Conquer, developed using the Frostbite 3 engine.

Taking place 2023, C&C sees China challenged by the European Union and the Global Liberation Army in a battle for power. Some new details for the game include the ability to blind enemies using smoke, and employing nitro boosts to quickly traverse distances. There will also be episodic story missions that you can play by yourself or in co-op with a friend.

We also got a look at Railgun Tanks and some of the helicopters, with the overall action being significantly quicker than previous C&C. Victory Games will also be featuring new content, such as generals, maps and more, over time and will even take the opinions of fans into account.

Command & Conquer will be heading to PC, with a release date still to be announced.

I’ll be honest, nothing I have heard of the upcoming Victory Games helmed take on the classic RTS Command and Conquer has been encouraging. The fact that the game was given to Bioware’s studios to begin with was troubling, but then its metamorphosis into a free to play ‘platform’ as described by EA was even worse. What excitement there might have been for the game upon its initial announcement was effectively killed when that last was revealed.

Now, the newest video that EA have released showcasing their upcoming game might not fully change your mind on the entire idea, but at the very least, it gives us an in depth look at the game, and it doesn’t look all that awful. I still can’t say it looks good, or that I am excited, but it at least doesn’t look like absolute crap like I was afraid it would.

Check out the video and let us know what you think. Also, apologies for the subtitles that simply cannot be turned off.

And they’re Middle Eastern.

As Victory Games’ Tim Morten pointed out to Polygon, “This is actually a pretty big change for the game. Anyone who knows this series will know the Global Liberation Army. But at the studio we had a bad reaction from people saying it was pretty offensive to have Middle-Eastern characters as militants.”

So now, enemies in future games will feature generals of different ethnicities to balance things out. Will five different kinds of generals help matters? As Morten pointed out, “Now we’ll probably just offend everybody”.

Optimism indeed. Command

Electronic Arts understood this – which is why the team at Victory Games, handling the new free to play Command and Conquer title will be looking to “wash away the stain of C&C4”. Check out the part 1 of “Behind the Battle” to learn more about how they’re doing that.

One way is to take inspiration from one of the more better series in the C&C universe, namely Generals. The game was actually meant to become the next Generals game, before going free to play but thankfully the team hasn’t changed its focus. Some of the gameplay is a testament to that, though it has “reboot” written all over it.

Currently, Command and Conquer will be the first of a series of free to play titles, which will use the Frostbite 2 engine and release sometime in 2013.

EA have started a new studio, Victory Games, that are hard at work on a new Command and Conquer game. Jon Van Caneghem, Vice President of Strategy Games, recently stated in an interview that work is being done on “a Command & Conquer game for the PC, but we’re not yet at a stage where I can go into any details—we’ll be prepared to make a more formal announcement later in the year.  We’re not just working on a game, though.  Our general focus is on the future of Command & Conquer.  That means updating a lot of the core technology to create a stable base for future development, and leveraging that work on this first game.”

“I want the fans to know that Victory Games is committed to bringing Command & Conquer back to the forefront for the next ten years and beyond.  We’ll be announcing our first new game later this year.”

Thanks to C and C blog for the info.