Victory Games’ Frostbite 3-powered upcoming real-time strategy title Command & Conquer has been scrapped. According to the developer, not only has the project been cancelled, the development team at Victory Games has been disbanded.
Revealing the news via an official blogpost, the team has thanked the fans for their participation over the last few months in the Command & Conquer closed alpha test.
“Part of being in a creative team is the understanding that not all of your choices are going to work out. In this case, we shifted the game away from campaign mode and built an economy-based, multiplayer experience. Your feedback from the alpha trial is clear: We are not making the game you want to play,” the team at Victory Games wrote.
“That is why, after much difficult deliberation, we have decided to cease production of this version of the game. Although we deeply respect the great work done by our talented team, ultimately it’s about getting you the game you expect and deserve.”
It was also confirmed that while the project is being ditched, the team will look to refund any and all money spent in the alpha over the next 10 days.
“We believe that Command & Conquer is a powerful franchise with huge potential and a great history, and we are determined to get the best game made as soon as possible. To that end, we have already begun looking at a number of alternatives to get the game back on track. We look forward to sharing more news about the franchise as it develops. Thank you again for your participation and support,” the post adds.
Additionally, an Electronic Arts spokesperson has also confirmed with Polygon that: “The team at Victory Games will be disbanded. Wherever possible, we are working to help these talented people find other opportunities within EA."
The new Command & Conquer, said to be on par with the likes of Battlefield 4, was first announced at the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards as Command & Conquer Generals 2. However, the title was later rebranded as a free-to-play, real-time multiplayer strategy offering that would receive periodic content in the form of new factions and a single-player campaign.
It was revealed that the game would arrive with shorter matches, as compared to the previous hours-long battles in the past. “We've been noticing since the original Generals, the preferred play session has gone done from an hour plus to 30 to 45 minutes," Jon Van Caneghem, general manager of Command & Conquer developer Victory Games, earlier stated, as scripted by Polygon. "So we've changed the pacing [of Command & Conquer] to deal with that."
Command & Conquer was scheduled to arrive this fall for PC.