C&C Series Will be F2P For The Foreseeable Future

[Steven Bogos]

C&C Series Will be F2P For The Foreseeable Future

Command and Conquer dev Victory Games says "The days of boxed releases are probably over."

Many diehard Command and Conquer fans were disappointed to see their beloved franchise turned into a free-to-play title. Not quite as disappointed as they were with the abomination that was Command and Conquer 4, but still pretty bummed. It looks like they will just have to get used to it, though, as developer Victory Games explains that the free-to-play platform created for the upcoming Command and Conquer 2013 has been designed to support ten years worth of continued content.

"I think maybe the days of a boxed [Command and Conquer] release are probably over," explained Victory Games' general manager Jon Van Caneghem. "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."

He clarifies that he isn't talking about the upcoming Command and Conquer 2013 title sticking around for ten years, but rather, the platform behind it, that functions much like Battlefield's battlelog in keeping persistent log-in details and online persona. "We definitely believe it will [last 10 years]. And if we can keep it updated it'll last even longer" said Van Canegham.

But Van Canegham understands that collectors are out there, and he hasn't completely ruled out the possibility of some kind of Collector's Edition. "There's always a need sometimes for Collector's Editions that are nice to put in a box where you get extra materials, so that's not out of the question [for Command and Conquer 2013]."

Command and Conquer 2013 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/127128-F2P-Command-and-Conquer-Rewires-Generals-With-A-Shorter-Fuse] should be out some time later this year.

Source: PCgamesN [http://www.pcgamesn.com/command-conquer-now-free-play-franchise-days-boxed-titles-are-over]

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[Revnak_v1legacy]

While a FTP strategy game may be what's best for e-sports and maybe even for making a profit, I am seriously pissed off about them doing this with C&C. It really isn't a C&C game without the cheesy live action cut-scenes.

 

[WickedFire]

C&C is dead to me. It died with RA3. I may stand out of the crowd, by actually enjoying C&C3, especially as I have been with the series from C&C Gold. But that game they released after RA3. That was not C&C. Chasing the e-sports idea has been nothing but a detriment to the franchise. The single player, with the hammy cut-scenes and all, was what made C&C. Not the competitive MP. Kane made the tiberium series and they ruined it, ruined him. Until the C&C brand passes to someone else, or dies entirely, I will not be investing any money in the franchise. Not a single penny.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

It will remain f2p because the diehard fans, i.e the only ones who really played it, hated 4 so much we abandoned the franchise. So any new boxed games won't sell.

 

[Tony2077]

i love sp so i guess this series is over and its was one of my top 5 till it took a nose dive with c&c 4

 

[Baresark]

I mostly enjoyed the SP aspect of the C&C games. So... yeah, that is cool. I am not trying to go out of my way to give EA my hard earned money.

 

[RicoADF]

Am I weird for liking C&C games for its single-player? RA2 is still my favorite RTS and one of the few genuinely funny comedy games.

Oh right, this is 2013, nobody plays SP anymore.

Single player is what myself and everyone I know played C&C for, just goes to show how out of touch EA/Victory Games are. They couldn't miss the mark any further if they were drunk, stoned and the other side of the planet at the same time.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Am I weird for liking C&C games for its single-player? RA2 is still my favorite RTS and one of the few genuinely funny comedy games.

Oh right, this is 2013, nobody plays SP anymore.

Single player is what myself and everyone I know played C&C for, just goes to show how out of touch EA/Victory Games are. They couldn't miss the mark any further if they were drunk, stoned and the other side of the planet at the same time.

I myself have been playing single player on pretty much every C&C all the way to 4 and after hearing this, it deeply saddens me that the series for the future will be nothing more than a game with strapped micro trans and nothing but multiplayer, I didn't play C&C like it was a ultra competitive sport, I played it at a nice pace of building my base and my army to then crush my enemy.

Now all we will have is cookie cutout C&C games with F2P slapped on, along with matches that will now last less than 30 mins because no one apparently plays long matches anymore and must end the match within 5 mins (I've had enough of that player mentality from RA3 and C&C 4 online so that can fuck right off).

If this was Starcraft II I probably wouldn't care as much (I love SCII but not never going to touch the MP side) since their online matches are designed so the players are meant to try to crush you within a rush of 2-5 mins.

Ah well like others have said the series is pretty much dead to them and it's probably going to be dead to me, now all that remains is my hope for Planetary annihilation since that RTS looks promising and has more to offer than C&C F2Paywall will ever offer.

Also as a side note I remember an article a few months back where EA received complaints about the new C&C having "terrorists" in their new game even though C&C Generals had the GLA and no one caused a fuss back in 2003, so changing what made it what it was now just seems completely backwards by listening to an offended crowd that would probably never buy into the game in the first place.

 

[MCerberus]

To be fair, they sort of jumped ALL the sharks by making Cain alien space jesus who wasn't actually a terrorist. The main storyline doesn't have anywhere to go but to reboot land.

 

[One of Many]

My soul weeps each time I see news about C&C. Gods, EA, what the hell are you doing to one of my favorite series?

 

[wild0061]

"I think maybe the days of a boxed [Command and Conquer] release are probably over,"

Non-'boxed' releases doesn't = F2P, it means no retail release, you can still sell digital games as a whole product without all the fetid micro transaction rubbish.

"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."

How exactly is F2P 'adding' anything? ok initially its 'free', but what value added features are they adding exactly that were meant to be hyped about, essentially isn't F2P basically no money up-front, pay later in small increments (that usually add up to a much larger amount than they would dare charge for a 1 off payment).

I haven't bothered looking at C&C since the news of the F2P move, can anyone explain how exactly the move to F2P is adding anything, and not just new features that could have been added to a normal non-F2P retail/digital release ("functions much like Battlefield's battlelog in keeping persistent log-in details and online persona." does not count since that's not a 'feature' from F2P), this all smells of bs marketing spin.

 

[Neverhoodian]

Bah, I lost interest in the franchise after Red Alert 2. Command and Conquer died ten years ago, when EA killed Westwood Studios. They're just banking on name recognition now in a shameless ploy to squeeze money from people that don't know any better.

RIP, Westwood. You were taken from us much too soon.

 

[Lovely Mixture]

Yeah, fuck you Victory.

Last month I finally decided to get into the C&C verse and lore, and then learned its sad history with EA.

C&C is dead to me. It died with RA3. I may stand out of the crowd, by actually enjoying C&C3, especially as I have been with the series from C&C Gold. But that game they released after RA3. That was not C&C. Chasing the e-sports idea has been nothing but a detriment to the franchise. The single player, with the hammy cut-scenes and all, was what made C&C. Not the competitive MP. Kane made the tiberium series and they ruined it, ruined him. Until the C&C brand passes to someone else, or dies entirely, I will not be investing any money in the franchise. Not a single penny.

Actually people have been generally favorable of C&C3. C&C4 is as you say....an abomination.
And I am with you all the way. I have been been acquiring the games second hand as to not support EA.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Gods, EA, what the hell are you doing to one of my favorite series?

They're being EA, if nothing else, you can never call EA's treatment of major franchises unpredictable.

I'm waiting for Mass Effect Online, Dead Space Online and Crysis Online, maybe even Medal of Honor Online just to really make sure it's dead.

While we're at it, FIFA and Madden Online too, $1 to unlock a player, $15 to unlock a complete team for that year, because why not?

 

[Ruley]

Are micros transactions in this game going to screw with the difficulty? Like, will a level 1 buy some many resources or units or upgrades or something and just trounce me since i haven't? The fact that they talk about battlefield 3 is worrying since that game offered the option of buying your way to top level equipment in each class!

C&C really isn't the title for this. Planetary Annihilation's gameplay might have fit a F2P model and a more grand battle feel with its combat between planets. It jsut won't be a C&C game without a good campaign, cheesy real life cutscenes with famous movie stars and hilarious accents.

On the subject of cheesy cutscenes, am i the only one to miss the cutscenes from NFS Carbon and Most wanted? (2005/2007)

 

[Matthi205]

This isn't Command & Conquer anymore. It simply is not. The C&C series has always been about long battles with lots of different possible strategies, and lots of different unit types to try a strategy out with.

What we have here, on the other hand, is a free-to-play strategy game, with mechanics that differ, and probably quite a lot, from the actual Command & Conquer series. From my perspective, this is the same as Syndicate: you have an old, good, well-known piece of IP, then decide to shit all over it and transfer it into a different genre altogether, alienating both newcomers and diehard fans alike.