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In this turbulent situation of the gaming industry, developers often make bold decisions. Whether it is about studio shutdown or game preservation. Well, Electronic Arts’ one falls in the latter section. With a sudden announcement, this gaming giant has appreciated the growing support from the community members and taken steps for game preservation.
As per the announcement, EA has open-sourced the source code for four iconic titles from the Command & Conquer (C&C) series. This move was sudden and shocking, but it will open up new ways for innovation and collaboration within the gaming community to bring life to these classic games.
Four of the Command & Conquer games are going open source. Below is the list of the four titles:
Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn—This one was the inaugural game of the series where players faced the conflict between the Global Defense Initiative and the Brotherhood of Nod for the first time.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert—This one is the prequel to the above-mentioned game, where players will explore an alternate history where the Allies confront the Soviet Union in a high-stakes global war.
Command & Conquer: Renegade—This game presents a brilliant blend of first-person shooter and real-time strategy.
Command & Conquer: Generals & Zero Hour—This game was set in a near-future scenario, where three factions—the USA, China, and the Global Liberation Army—battle with distinct strategies and units.
EA’s iconic Command & Conquer franchise was started in 1995, and to date, for many, it represents the finest examples of real-time strategy gaming. These games have helped to shape the real-time strategy genre and paved the way for the games that are conquering the world of RTS games.
However, as technological advancement started affecting the gaming sector, the Command & Conquer series started losing popularity, and updates didn’t help much. Therefore, the open-sourcing decision of EA will help the company preserve these games by providing modern gamers the chance to bring new life to these classics.
The open-sourcing decision of Electronic Arts is groundbreaking for several reasons. The first thing that one should consider is that open-sourcing and distributing the source codes will allow anyone to access, modify, and distribute codes. While this will allow professionals to make changes to the game, even newcomers will also be able to make changes according to their preferences. They can fix bugs or make other changes that they think will make these games better.
Furthermore, by gaining access to the source code, modders will also be able to delve into these games and create fresh content to expand the game's original vision. Expectedly, this step will create a new wave of creativity, allowing C&C to remain relevant in the digital age.
For developers, this release of source codes opens up a wide range of opportunities. For new developers. It will be a chance to study these games from a technical standpoint and determine how these games were structured. A lot of aspiring game developers may now study the game engine of Command & Conquer and learn the foundational concepts of these games.
The Command & Conquer franchise has always been about strategic depth and fast-paced action. Therefore, studying these games will open up new ways to incorporate the classic game mechanisms into an entirely new experience. Additionally, developers can explore the evolution of RTS games from the late '90s to the early 2000s and possibly revitalize those features in modern engines.
Electronic Arts’ decision to open-source classic franchises is a landmark move that the gaming industry has never witnessed before. While for gamers, it brings new opportunities to customize and improve their gaming experience, for developers, it opens up new avenues for learning, experimentation, and innovation. Hopefully, this benchmark set by EA will be followed by more developer companies to preserve their classic titles that have become obsolete in the modern era.
