Victory Games Developing the Next Command & Conquer

[Sonic 293]

Following on from the previous news item. There is a new interview at PC Gamers World with Eric, the C&C Community Manager, and Jon Van Caneghem, the man in charge of the C&C franchise. It confirms that there is a new Command & Conquer game in development at the new studio called Victory Games. And here's a quick look at the new C&C logo.

 

Eric: I am here with Jon Van Caneghem, the GM of Victory Games. Today you announced the name of your new studio as Victory Games – can you talk about what that means?

 

JVC: Sure. Victory Games was created to be the focal point for the creation of strategy games for the Games Label at EA. Our current focus is making a AAA Command & Conquer game, which I am very excited to be working on. I’ve always been a big Command & Conquer fan.

 

Eric: A new Command & Conquer game? What can you tell me about it?

 

JVC: I can tell you it’s 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.

 

Eric: Sounds like you’re very busy, and I’m looking forward to that announcement. Back to the studio, why “Victory Games?”

 

JVC: The initial idea came from the obvious parallel of winning in a strategy game, where the word “Victory” often ends up on your screen. The reason I think it fits so well is when you look at how to be successful in strategy games: it’s the ability to anticipate, plan, and react. This is no different when it comes to the gaming industry – you must anticipate the direction of the genre and marketplace, plan for what the consumers are looking for, and stay nimble enough to react to environmental changes.

 

Eric: Where is Victory Games located?

 

JVC: We have offices in Los Angeles, CA; Austin, TX; and Shanghai, China. It almost feels like one location though, as we have video conferencing systems setup 24/7 which offers us a stronger and more personal level of communication between offices.

 

Eric: You re-launched the Command & Conquer website today – can you talk about that?

 

JVC: Yes, you will notice a few key upgrades on www.commandandconquer.com today. We’ve got a new look and feel, new and improved forums, and a much cleaner interface. Luckily we’ve hired a talented new community manager to help support all of these initiatives.

 

Eric: Why thank you! What else can you tell us about the people behind Victory Games?

 

JVC: We’ve put together a team made up of some of the best talent from previous Command & Conquer games along with a great mix of quality industry veterans. Everyone that we’ve brought on board is very passionate about making strategy games.

 

Eric: That sounds great. What strategy games do you play?

 

JVC: I play almost every strategy game that comes out, with the two most recent games being Civilization V and Starcraft 2. I still have all the Command & Conquer and Heroes of Might and Magic games on my machine and play them regularly as well.

 

Eric: What’s your favorite Command & Conquer memory?

 

JVC: The original Command & Conquer released the same month as the original Heroes of Might and Magic game that I created at New World Computing. Right after we shipped Heroes, we were hard at work getting a Win95 version ready. We were also starting work on Heroes II, but every day work stopped a little bit earlier and earlier and earlier as everyone was jumping into LAN games of Command & Conquer. After months of working on a game that featured classical music and fantasy sound effects, it was an experience to have the office filled with the sounds of combat, explosions, and “Got a present for ya!” That’s what makes this so exciting for me, to appreciate the franchise as both a game maker and a game player and to have the opportunity to bring back the magic that made the Command & Conquer games so great over the last fifteen years.

 

Eric: In closing, do you have anything you’d like to say to the fans?

 

JVC: Absolutely! 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.

Some some interesting stuff there. And now we have something to look forward to as C&C makes its return. You can find the original interview right here.

[[NE]Fobby[GEN] 10]

Sounds like a full restart. This is good news, and an extremely critical moment. A full restart is risky but can be rewarding - they will either restore C&C`s glory, or bring it down to hell. I hope they have learned from the disaster that was C&C4. I myself am looking forward to seeing a new C&C universe, a new engine, and a new gameplay mechanic. I hope they are up to the challenge.

[lkRaven 0]

Looks like they are developing a new engine as well. That is good news. I won't get my hopes up at least until I get a demo to play.

Edited February 22, 2011 by lkRaven

[dbjs2009 25]

Nice logo.

[Golan 6]

It's all just words... heard enough of those before the release of TS, of RA2, of TW, of RA3, of TT, and now again. They'd better have more than just words to speak for them.

[Sonic 293]

If they are creating a new engine it will be "based" on SAGE/RNA anyway. The thing is, with the likes of C&C3/RA3/C&C4, the engine was not the problem so its a non issue.

 

Also, does http://www.cncstage.com work for anyone here. All I get is a blank white page.

[Luk3us 63]

A series reboot maybe?

 

Yeah, I think that would work wonders after C&C4...

[Plok 320]

Eric: You re-launched the Command & Conquer website today – can you talk about that?

 

JVC: Yes, you will notice a few key upgrades on www.commandandconquer.com today. We’ve got a new look and feel, new and improved forums, and a much cleaner interface. Luckily we’ve hired a talented new community manager to help support all of these initiatives.

From my browser's point of view, commandandconquer.com still has the same C&C 4 related crap I could see in the past year. Absolutely nothing new.

 

Also, does http://www.cncstage.com work for anyone here. All I get is a blank white page.

CNC Stage is blank for me too. Whatever the blasted thing is supposed to be.

[Silverthorn 0]

Sounds like a full restart. This is good news, and an extremely critical moment. A full restart is risky but can be rewarding - they will either restore C&C`s glory, or bring it down to hell. I hope they have learned from the disaster that was C&C4. I myself am looking forward to seeing a new C&C universe, a new engine, and a new gameplay mechanic. I hope they are up to the challenge.

 

It's a good news to hear too, let's hope things will go well as we hope for.

[Golan 6]

Also, does http://www.cncstage.com work for anyone here. All I get is a blank white page.

It worked yesterday, when it was first leaked. It included a full new front page as well as a forum (VB4 or soemthing like that) but was a bit bugged still. They seem to have taken it down after it became apparent that people found out about it.

[Sonic 293]

I'm guessing the interview got posted early or something and this new CNC Stage official site is not ready. I'm also sure that EA_CIRE will update us all in due time.

 

In related news. I finally updated the GAME TRACKER on the main site, with the flash new C&C logo and some details. Its not much but its a start

[PurpleGaga27 39]

Yeah, we probably don't know how long CNC Stage will be under maintenance repairs.

 

Also, I don't think Victory Games is a good name for a sub-studio in EALA. C&C back then had victories, but the recent ones, not so great. EA has completely forgotten about the Westwood name and they are not seemingly interested to revive the name. Sad indeed, but life goes on. I wish the new RTS studio would have been Westwood Games.

 

The EALA studio in Marina Del Rey, CA, is only several miles away from a LA town community called Westwood, which includes the UCLA campus and hospital.

Edited February 23, 2011 by zocom7

[Plok 320]

Also, I don't think Victory Games is a good name for a sub-studio in EALA. C&C back then had victories, but the recent ones, not so great. EA has completely forgotten about the Westwood name and they are not seemingly interested to revive the name. Sad indeed, but life goes on. I wish the new RTS studio would have been Westwood Games.

Why would they do that? Most of the Westwood programmers are now at Petroglyph, some of them are at Victory, and I hear a few defected to Blizzard (!), so it's just wrong to get the name back to a team that has changed more than 90%. The original Victory Games from 1986 actually made a text adult game, so I don't think that having the same name with those guys is a good idea

Edited February 23, 2011 by Plokite_Wolf

[Malovolpe 3]

Well thank goodness they are rebooting C&C.

[Troopzor 5]

I'm guessing the interview got posted early or something and this new CNC Stage official site is not ready. I'm also sure that EA_CIRE will update us all in due time.

 

In related news. I finally updated the GAME TRACKER on the main site, with the flash new C&C logo and some details. Its not much but its a start

 

My theory on this whole site as it stands is that maybe they were doing a live test of the site, it was only meant to be up for a day or two to give plenty of time to test all of it's aspects. I bet they never thought it would get found so fast lol

[Sonic 293]

I wonder where this came from..... http://forums.cncnz.com/index.php?showforum=97

[PurpleGaga27 39]

I wonder where this came from..... http://forums.cncnz.com/index.php?showforum=97

 

I thought you opened that new C&C forum section. The new C&C game title still hasn't been announced yet.

[TheBlackOut 6]

*comes in late to the party*

 

A reboot or a Gens 2 would be a-okay for me. Gens 2 actually would be pretty badass imo. Definitely need a new engine.. SAGE just doesn't cut it anymore.

[Malovolpe 3]

I would be sad if they didn't use SAGE/RNA, mainly because its basically an enhanced Westwood 3D engine.

[Malevolence 6]

I really hope history never repeats and let C&C franchise go on a clean slate.

 

I also wishes to see them working on a different engine and the SAGE RNA engine is really ancient and way too flawed as compared to other better RTS games such as World In Conflict.

[TheBlackOut 6]

I want Mirror's Edge 2

*gives 1000 yard stare*

 

I would be sad if they didn't use SAGE/RNA, mainly because its basically an enhanced Westwood 3D engine.

I also wishes to see them working on a different engine and the SAGE RNA engine is really ancient and way too flawed as compared to other better RTS games such as World In Conflict.

^ that basically. They need to make an engine that looks good if they do an RTS C&C. If not for competition sake, for the sake of SAGE looks so bad by modern standards anyway..

[Malovolpe 3]

Looks don't matter in an RTS game. I like the SAGE/RNA engine and I think they should continue using it. Some of my favorite RTS games use the W3D/SAGE/RNA engine such as Emperor Battle for Dune, Red Alert 3, and Battle for Middle-Earth 2.

[Malevolence 6]

^ that basically. They need to make an engine that looks good if they do an RTS C&C. If not for competition sake, for the sake of SAGE looks so bad by modern standards anyway..

:thumbsup:

Precisely. Its always good to move forward with a clean slate with a new engine that will perform better and possibly do new mechanics that the aging SAGE/RNA engine can't.

[Red Blitzkrieg 0]

PLEASE be a reboot and be good.......preferable a reboot starting with C&C 3 or 4

[CCHyper 3]

I hate repeating this, but W3D->SAGE->RNA, whatever you want to call the current rendition, is a powerful engine and still very adaptable at the source level. It's EA's choice to take it so far, and they did with the RNA updates. Even if they decide to develop a new RTS engine, it will be based on the SAGE engine, what was based on the W3D engine, what itself is based on a commercial engine they bought out, plus another little bit of info, W3D contains all most 20% of code seen in all Westwood games before Yuris Revenge. This is called the WWLibrary, even SAGE-RNA handles basic memory and files the same as Red Alert 95! Neat eh?

 

Rant via smart phone on the toilet, over.