Command And Conquer Red Alert 2 Remastered

Command & Conquer Remastered Drove was a success - and then what's next for the revived RTS franchise?

We speak to the EA producer spearheading the projection to find out.

I call up information technology's fair to say Control & Conquer Remastered Collection was a resounding success. EA's nostalgia-fuelled existent-time strategy revival was a hit with fans and critics alike when it launched in June - and it saw big sales on Steam. But as its developers continue to back up the game with balance updates, tweaks and mod support, the inevitable question is this: what's adjacent for Command & Conquer?

I've seen plenty of requests for EA to keep to work with the developers at Petroglyph Games and Lemon Sky Studios on more remasters of classic C&C games. It seems natural for EA to tackle Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 2 next. Just I also wonder whether the success of Control & Conquer Remastered Collection, which, let'southward exist honest, is the first good thing to happen to the franchise in a decade (Control & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances, Command & Conquer: Generals 2 and mobile game Command & Conquer Rivals all failed in diverse means) means the powers that exist at EA may now consider the time correct to invest in a new, fully-fledged Control & Conquer game.

When I recently interviewed EA producer Jim Vessella, who led the Command & Conquer remastered project, to inquire why the developers left in a 25-year-erstwhile exploit, I thought it would be a practiced chance to quiz him on what's next, where the Control & Conquer franchise finds itself, and the futurity of the RTS genre.

It looks from the exterior that Control & Conquer Remastered Collection was a success. Has information technology met your expectations?

Jim Vessella: It's been fantastic, to be honest. The reception we received from fans was really meaningful to us. Nosotros've been hovering around a 9.0 user rating on Steam and on some of the sites. That'due south simply fantastic to meet. The Command & Conquer franchise has had a footling chip of a turbulent decade, yous could say. We had lost a lot of the trust of the customs. At that place'southward definitely reasons for that. Our peak priority in building the remastered collection was to do this for the fans, to rebuild that community sentiment, try and rebuild that trust. And it's fantastic to see the customs come into it with an open mind, and give u.s.a. that chance to earn that dorsum, and to then see that reflected in the response has been really humbling. Information technology is really meaningful to usa on the evolution team.

On the critical reception side, I'll acknowledge it has exceeded my expectations. We weren't really sure how the greater industry was going to react to the game. There accept been quite a few of these RTS remasters over the past five, six, seven years, and there's been a wide spectrum of response. We've seen a couple of games of late not go a positive response. And manifestly that makes everybody nervous. Then I actually didn't know what to expect going into it from a critical standpoint. Only to encounter the ratings come in equally high equally they did - nosotros've had over 20 90-plus reviews come in from different outlets around the world - that's just phenomenal. And some quotes saying, 'it'south 1 of the best remasters of all time,' from some actually reputable outlets. It's just fantastic. And and so I recall information technology has exceeded everybody's expectations for threading the needle betwixt that kind of authenticity and staying true to the original experience, merely also modernising and updating the right things in the game. It'due south been great to see that vision is landing well.

Then from a commercial standpoint, it'south besides been swell to see. We had a really potent launch. Nosotros were in the top of the Steam sales charts for a few weeks. We got groovy back up from our teams and from Valve going onto Steam for the first time. That has been a great collaboration, taking advantage of the native platform on Steam with the Steam Workshop and achievements. Watching people go for the achievements has been really fun.

Then, all things coming together, information technology'due south really turned out to exist a launch that has exceeded all of our expectations. And that'due south bully for the franchise. It's great for the evolution teams at Petroglyph and Lemon Sky. It's great for EA. And we really hope that momentum can go along.

For me, this has definitely rekindled a passion for Command & Conquer. I would like to think information technology'due south shown the powers that exist at EA that this is a franchise that still has value. Simply what does it mean for the franchise and what can happen next?

Jim Vessella: It takes time to have those kind of conversations in a company like EA. I think information technology's the best thing that could have happened for the franchise. So if you were to take a dice ringlet, nosotros rolled an actual 20 on this project! It's the best thing that could have happened to go the franchise back into the conversation with the rest of the leadership effectually the visitor.

I'm hopeful at that place'south now some really skilful data here, tangible data betwixt the critical reaction, the player reaction, and the commercial impact to try and say, 'hey, is at that place something else we should keep to do with the franchise?'

If y'all look at the past decade of C&C, I would say this has put it in the best momentum position we could exist, given everything the franchise has gone through over the past 10 years. I beloved C&C. I would love to exist able to do more with C&C. We'll have to see where the franchise tin go with that, but it'south been really good. The customs has been incredibly supportive of the project, coming into it with that open up heed. And that speaks volumes. That is meaningful and people are paying attending to that.

This game has been successful as a remaster tapping into nostalgia, merely generally the RTS genre isn't the hottest right at present. It seems to me to be difficult for big new RTS games to find success. What's your take on that, and does information technology mean remasters are the way to get for C&C because they tap into nostalgia? Or does the RTS genre nevertheless have hope?

Jim Vessella: As an RTS fan I certainly hope it still has a expert future ahead of it. A lot of these companies... Microsoft, Blizzard and everybody has been tackling these remasters as a way to make it dorsum into the momentum of things, with varying success. But it was a not bad matter for united states of america to do - a way to quickly try and get the franchise back on PC and to try and re-constitute that relationship with the community. But it does come down to economics. I know from working on C&C3 and Red Warning 3, those are big investments. They're really large games. They take a really big team. And, if yous desire to exercise them well, several years to brand. The tools are actually complicated. It'due south really difficult to reuse stuff from other genres. For example, when EA tried to do Generals 2 and said, let's just utilise the Frostbite engine, that became a real challenge. It'southward one of the things that ultimately didn't piece of work in that projection. And so y'all really need to take the correct technology, the correct tools, and the expertise of the right team to tackle a total-fledged RTS game, and have it be up to the quality that you know people would expect these days, with games similar StarCraft 2 still defining best in class for the genre.

And so it's just big. It's a big investment. And the remasters are a good mode to detect that middle ground of being able to modernise a lot of things, get that classic RTS feel, only get a petty flake of a head start past existence able to reuse obviously some of the designs and some of the content.

Something I've got my eyes on pretty closely is, Relic is developing Age of Empires iv in conjunction with Microsoft. And that is one of those projects - big investment, a really veteran team, a large legacy franchise - and I'one thousand really curious to run into how it does. If it does really well, then that'due south a really strong data betoken for the genre. And that will allow usa to look at the genre and how it's doing. Or vice versa. And then I'one thousand rooting for that team! Adam Isgreen [studio artistic director, Earth's Edge - Xbox Game Studios], who's a Westwood C&C veteran, is helping to lead that franchise up there. We wish him the best and hope they knock it out of the park - on behalf of the entire genre!

No pressure so!

Jim Vessella: We're rooting for them! We're going to look at how the genre continues to play out. But for us in particular with C&C, this remaster has been a really strong stride in the right management. That'southward exactly what the franchise needed right now.

In the meantime, while you look for those guys to prove out the genre, Tiberian Dominicus and Ruby-red Alert 2 remaster next?

Jim Vessella: Well, information technology'southward definitely been requested! Nosotros've seen hundreds and hundreds of posts and comments from the community requesting to continue on this path and to look at TibSun and RA2. We've seen several journalists every bit well as part of their reviews, or other manufactures, say, 'okay, Red Alert 2 side by side, correct?' Obviously we love to hear that. We love to hear people want to meet more than of this kind of remaster path we've gone downward. But we're focused on the back up for the beginning remaster drove. Nosotros're in the eye of doing some of these major patches, trying to back up the community, and react to a lot of their top requests, and really get this game into the land where it could continue to live on, with community collaboration in terms of modern support. So we're focused on that correct now.

Very diplomatic!

Jim Vessella: It's the truth! Information technology'south where we're focused on. It's a full-time gig for the teams to continue to back up the game in a stiff way. We're however only seven weeks after launch.

Information technology feels longer than that!

Jim Vessella: It does feel longer, but really information technology hasn't been that long. And we want to go along to back up it for a chip. But nosotros definitely hear the requests for more stuff, and nosotros'll have to see how that plays out.

Command And Conquer Red Alert 2 Remastered,

Source: https://www.eurogamer.net/command-and-conquer-remastered-collection-was-a-success-so-whats-next-for-the-revived-rts

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