Command and Conquer 5 could be online-only

Command and Conquer 5 logo
Command & Conquer 5? If it’s up to Electronic Arts, it’ll be an online-only social extravaganza.

EA’s Jon Van Caneghem mentions in an interview that their future business model for the RTS series includes digital download-only releases, like the $20 Red Alert 3: Uprising and similar to the free Battlefield Heroes. To quote him:

“Direct-to-consumer is where I think most games are going, and I’ve always been a fan of the [C&C] series. The company has the same vision I do on the future of games and the future of this franchise, so I think it’s going be great.

Look what online has done for RPGs over the last 10 years. All the other categories are following suit… we’re looking forward to building something to be a leader in that space. It allows you to do everything you would have expected from a boxed game, but it adds a lot more to it… being connected and connected with players, and persistence, the social elements of playing against each other with other friends.

Persistent online and social elements are something no one’s ever done before with the strategy genre and he thinks it’s about time. He continued:

“What you’re seeing with all the social gamers on Facebook… they are actually already playing strategy games whether they know it or not. Taking a franchise like Command and Conquer and expanding it to a wider audience is part of the strategy.

For years we made games, put it in a box and hoped it sold well, and if it did we made sequels. It’s exciting for designers to be connected with the customer on an instant, daily basis and have all the info on what they’re doing.”

Sounds like C&C community manager Apoc has got his work cut out for him. — But what about Command & Conquer 4: Tiberium Twilight being the last in the main series? I hear you ask. Well let me ask you, when has that ever stopped a publisher of a popular brand from creating spin-offs or continuations through alternate timelines or reboots? In the case of EA, never.

Read the full interview over at Gamasutra.