Command and Conquer (Generals 2) cancelled, dev shuttered

A decision has come down from on high at EA Games and the free to play, Command and Conquer, pseudo Generals 2 title that's been in development for several years at this point, has been cancelled in its current form and the developer behind it, Victory Games, has been closed.

Not all of this is official, though the game's indefinite stalling is. Announced in a blog post by EA Games, it's clear the publishing giant wasn't liking the feedback it was getting from early testers, as despite being well into the alpha and releasing patches on a near daily basis, it's canned the game in its current form.

“Your feedback from the alpha trial is clear: We are not making the game you want to play,” the post reads. “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.”

Aww man, I wanted to build some Overlord tanks

It also announced that any money players had spent as part of the Alpha's in-game micro-transactions, would be refunded over the next ten days. The fact that EA was charging during this period though, suggests that perhaps earning potential was being gauged along with gameplay. As Game Informer suggests, what if this was more about low alpha buy-ins rather than poor feedback?

EA is said to be working on a solution though, stating: “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.”

Unfortunately that solution looks likely to be without the game's developer, Victory Games. This news came from a new hiree (having only worked there for three weeks), who announced the shuttering via Twitter.

“Well that was fun. Victory Games is closed. LFW,” he said.

KitGuru Says: While I'm not a massive fan of micro-transaction based games, I was going to play this. I have a real soft spot for the original Generals and its Zero Hour expansion. I played it online with a few buddies for years and years after release. I never got that great, but I was looking forward to seeing how I did in this one – especially since I'd be able to play as my old pals the GLA. 

Good luck to the guys at Victory Games in finding new gigs. 

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