Electronic Arts revealed today that the Command & Conquer remasters it teased in October will begin with Tiberian Dawn, the story of the first Tiberium War between the Global Defense Initiative and the Brotherhood of Nod that was told in the original Command & Conquer, and the alt-universe Command & Conquer: Red Alert, along with all their expansions, which will be bundled with the base games.
Even better, the remastered versions will be done by Petroglyph Games, a studio created by former Westwood employees—Westwood being, among other things, the originator of the Command & Conquer series—after EA pulled the plug in 2003. As an added bonus, composer Frank Klepacki, who made the music for the C&C games and a pile of other Westwood classics (like this), is joining Petroglyph as the composer and audio director on the remastered games.
"Here we are 20+ years later and EA has reached out to us regarding C&C. They had decided it was about time to revisit the original C&C games to give the fans what they had been asking for. Petroglyph has many former Westwood employees and is a perfect fit for bringing the original Command & Conquer games back to life," Command & Conquer co-creator and Petroglyph co-founder Joe Bostic wrote on Reddit.
"I’m excited to revisit the original Command & Conquer and Red Alert for our legacy fans, along with introducing the games to a new audience! Our battle-plan mission is to 'remaster' rather than 'remake' the original C&C games."
Bostic acknowledged that the definition of "remaster" is a little on the vague side, but he said that the developers want to take advantage of technology that simply wasn't available in 1995 and asked fans to continue offering input on where they think that should lead.
"If you could turn back the clock, what would you have wanted in the original C&C games? How true to a remaster should we adhere do? What modern improvements can be added without deviating from the core game? Balance changes?" he wrote. "We will be starting development soon, so now is the time to let your voice be heard."
Lemon Sky Studios, "one of the premier art studios around the world, with a unique specialty in remastering classic RTS titles," will also be involved in the remastering process. Details weren't provided but producer Jim Vessella said it would "help bring these original games to 4k glory."
"The exciting part is that we haven’t started development yet. The community is literally getting in on the ground floor of this project and have every opportunity to help influence how we build this remastered experience," Vessella wrote. "Please continue to engage on Reddit and community channels and help us create the best possible remasters of C&C and Red Alert!"
Vessella also reaffirmed that that Command & Conquer and Red Alert remasters will not have microtransactions.
