EA enlists former Westwood devs to work on its Command & Conquer PC remasters
Tiberian Dawn, Red Alert first in line.
EA has announced that its recently revealed Command & Conquer remasters are to be helmed by Petroglyph Games, a developer founded by key members of the original C&C team at the long-defunct Westwood Studios.
EA's Command & Conquer PC remasters were first introduced back in October, following the community's angry reaction to Command & Conquer: Rivals, the publisher's free-to-play RTS mobile game. At the time, EA producer Jim Vessella assured fans that, "we heard you loud and clear: the...community also wants to see the franchise return to PC."
Now, writing in a new post to the Command & Conquer subreddit, Vessella has confirmed that EA's remaster programme will begin with Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn, Command & Conquer: Red Alert, and expansion packs Covert Ops, Counterstrike, and Aftermath. These will be bundled into a single remastered collection, with no micro-transactions to be found.
Vessella also acknowledged that there had been a "healthy skepticism" within the community regarding EA's announced remasters. "How are we possibly going to remaster these titles while maintaining the authenticity of the original experiences?," he continued, "Bottom line, there is no better way to achieve this than to partner with some of the talented developers who brought these original games to life."
To that end, EA has enlisted the help of Petroglyph Games, which counts Command & Conquer co-creator (and lead programmer on Tiberian Dawn and Red Alert) Jo Bostic among its ranks, as well as Red Alert lead programmer Steve Tall, Mike Legg, and original C&C community manager Ted Morris. Additionally, Petroglyph separately confirmed that audio director Frank Kepacki, who composed much of the music for the Command & Conquer, will be involved.
According to Vessella, EA is also partnering with developer Lemon Sky Studios in order "to help bring these original games to 4k glory".
Elsewhere in Vessella's post, Jo Bostic shared a few words on Petroglyph's involvement in the new Command & Conquer remasters, explaining that the studio is "eager to provide an experience that takes advantage of enhanced connectivity, graphics features, and other technology improvements that weren't around back in 1995". As the team formulates its initial development plan, he continued, "I'm eager to hear what else fans are looking for."
"If you could turn back the clock, what would you have wanted in the original C&C games?," Bostic asked, "How true to a remaster should we adhere do? What modern improvements can be added without deviating from the core game? Balance changes? We will be starting development soon, so now is the time to let your voice be heard."
So while it sounds as if EA's Command & Conquer remasters are some way off, fans should be at least somewhat reassured to hear that the project appears to be in safe hands.