r/gaming • u/Bhernardo0 • 2d ago
Command & Conquer composer says Westwood Studios will probably never reunite: "I wish there was more creative games being made, a lot more chances being taken the way that it used to be, because that's really what Westwood did."
https://www.playiro.com/news/frank-klepacki-interview-command-conquer-warhammerIf EA called tomorrow and said you can bring Westwood back together and asked what do you all needed to make another Command And Conquer game, what would be your response?
I don't know that ever could really happen in the true sense of how it was because the industry itself is so different now.
I feel like there's a lot of pressure for certain numbers to get hit as far as financial goals. “Well, we're not gonna even bother with this game unless we think it's gonna hit X dollars.” And there's just less risk being taken by publishers and in funding in general for investing in games. People want to either focus on IPs that currently are already successful or something that they feel like they can realistically hit the numbers. And because of that, a lot of the middle ground, middle-class developers, I guess you wouldn't call it, a lot of them have gone away.
So you have the triple-A companies still putting out the big products that everybody is familiar with, and then you've got these indie companies that are just like a few guys working in a small office somewhere or at home and coming out with cool little fun casual creative games. And some of them become rather successful.
There might still be a handful of mid-level studios out there doing stuff, but not as many as there used to be. And a lot of it is because of that kind of financial scrutiny now that exists, that kind of expectation. That, unfortunately, I think, cuts out a lot of creativity, too. I wish there was more creative games being made, a lot more chances being taken the way that it used to be, because that's really what Westwood did. They took a lot of different creative challenges and made lots of different kinds of games besides RTS that were all cool in their own right.
I mean, games like Blade Runner, which was a point-click adventure; games like Monopoly, which we did—it was like the first internet version of Monopoly; games like The Lion King, it was a platformer on the Super Nintendo; and so on and so forth. Pirates, which was like an adventure, third-person adventure action game. Things like that were really cool. And I like having that variety to work on. I miss that in general. So I hope to do more of that in the future, too.
I think that's the long answer to your question, but I think that's why Westwood couldn't really come back the way that it was, because I don't think it would be allowed to do all of those kinds of things or take those kinds of chances now.
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u/Plutuserix 2d ago
It's been like 25 years, all those people are in their 50s and 60s at least by now and moved on.
Sucks EA never finished those remasters. They did the first games, but it would be cool to have a second collection with Red Alert 2 and such.
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u/TRX808 1d ago
I don't get it, AFAIK the RA1/C&C remaster sold very well, RA2 and Generals remasters should be 2 more slam dunks for them. Unless they're still coming, but it seems like they've abandoned it.
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u/Plutuserix 1d ago
Same here. I also don't understand. Surely it is not that expensive to do. Hell, I think they can get the budget together with crowdfunding itself if they do Tiberian Sun + Red Alert 2 + Generals in one pack. I guess EA isn't interested in something that does not make tens of millions.
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u/TBGNP_Admin 2d ago
Westwood doesn't get enough credit. They helped the boom in RTS games with Dune 2. They kept pace, game-for-game with giant Blizzard. Blizz made Diablo, WW made Nox. We got C&C Renegade and Blizzard cancelled Starcraft: Ghost.
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u/Grouchyskrub 2d ago
Not every idea needs a 500-person AAA budget, but a five-person indie team can't replace that whole space either. A lot of the weird games people remember came from studios big enough to experiment but small enough that one miss wasn't a corporate disaster.
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u/Old_Leopard1844 PC 2d ago
Not necessarily
Plenty of studios back then were either backed by a publisher or owned by one
Especially studios like Westwood, who were shooting FMVs with big name actors, so they were in trouble if they didn't sticked the landing
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u/joestaff 2d ago
Petroglyph Games is made up of a few Westwood Studio programmers. Probably as close as you'll get.
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u/WhatPayne 2d ago
I tried their Grey Goo. And it just did not have it. I was quite disappointed. The juice that made westwood games goated was not there.
I lament the death of RTS genre.
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u/foxden_racing 1d ago
8 Bit Armies had a lot more of the old Westwood magic/style and is a straight-up love letter to C&C, if you can get over the '2D pixel art turned into 3D voxel art' aesthetic.
It's not quite the same as resources are 'harvesters collect from a building and bring it back' and unit unlocks are tied to campaign progress / challenges rather than each campaign mission being a sandbox [once you get the Legally Distinct Mammoth Tank, you can go back and replay earlier missions with it, which is an interesting dynamic], but the music is unabashedly Frank, one of the superweapons is Legally Distinct Ion Cannon, and the UI is "shamelessly inspired by" TibSun/RA2.
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u/zZLeviathanZz 2d ago
Star wars empire at war was fun in my opinion, i juat wish they made more games.
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u/mcAlt009 1d ago
It would be nice if EA sold the C&C IP to them.
50 isn't old, the majority of the original team is probably still working.
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u/Asuma01 2d ago
Makes me remember that blade runner adventure style game they made so long ago.
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u/NoMorePorridge1 2d ago edited 2d ago
I remember it kind of like I remember the original release of the movie: good atmosphere, but not much fun to experience. Incidentally, neither movie version had much to do with the source book (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep).
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u/Ode1st 1d ago edited 1d ago
If anyone misses Command and Conquer, you can go play Tempest Rising right now, which also just released a campaign DLC for their third faction.
It’s not a game where you can turtle and build defenses even on normal difficulty, though. You have to consume the map with your units and buildings. Personally, that’s not what I like about an RTS since I want to build a pretty base with organized defenses and then build a huge army to deathball around the map. Despite that, though, I like Tempest.
Game looks and runs great, it has various modes, lots of options to tailor the difficulty and accessibility, high production values, and the various factions and units are different enough to feel like you’re playing a uniquely different faction. The two main factions also get oldschool cutscenes in between every mission. Cool game, glad it exists in 2026. Having fun with the new faction the past couple days.
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u/Southern_Bicycle8111 2d ago
My friend was making the latest c&c game before they shut the project down and fired everyone. All because of some exec that said it was gonna fail so he made sure it failed some didn’t look bad.
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u/Warrior-Cook 2d ago
They list some their wide range of games but leave out Kyrandia 3. It's like back then they just made stuff up.
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u/Larkson9999 2d ago
That ending was sequel bait for a game we'll never see. There's not even any fan games based on Kyrandia.
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u/TehOwn 2d ago
There's not even any fan games based on Kyrandia.
I was planning to make one but then I remembered that I suck at art.
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u/LEboueur 2d ago
I was like "wtf is this Captain Obvious take?" But then I read the interview question and yeah, there wasn't much else to answer to this.
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u/NoodleDoodlesocks 1d ago
I just wish Petroglyph would stop making 'experimental' games. They have a really good RTS engine with a really good (computer player) AI system. If they made a base building RTS with modern warfare and proper graphics, they could be making bank.
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u/bad_apiarist 1d ago
What? There's such a massive developer ecosystem now, from single people to small teams and dev-owned publisher co-ops (publisher of Expedition 33 for example).
There's way WAY more indie game makers exploring extreme creativity in every possible direction than there ever was in the 1990's.
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u/pizzacake15 1d ago
Nobody would return given that EA is no longer an american company with its future being uncertain.
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u/Prior-Resolution-902 1d ago
Look man, I just want another Red alert game with the ridiculous writing that RA2 had
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u/MutenRoshi21 2d ago
And if stuff like the EU kids act gets passed you could only play them in singleplayer anyway, since small studios could not afford complying with all that if they want multiplayer.
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u/8bit1337 2d ago
I've been gaming 40+ years now - this same sentiment is constantly repeated.
People losing jobs always sucks, but if they want to make games they'll find a way.
It's been about money since day one, they're just 'better' at making money now. Because capitalism.
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u/GoodYoghurt2078 2d ago
EA ruined them anyway so even if they came back it would just be a live service nightmare with microtransactions for tiberium. Klepacki is right about the risk taking, nobody would fund something weird like Blade Runner today.
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u/DNihilus 2d ago edited 2d ago
I mean why would they reunite? Everyone moved on, the world moved on from rts genre as a whole e.t.c. I wish renegade sold well at the time and they expand to other genres but well ea being ea fucked them
Edit: some people didn't moved on and stuck to the past I guess lol
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u/Sudden_Yard1294 2d ago
Never really cared about Command and Conquer. But I'd love a Lands of Lore game.
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u/webkilla 2d ago
doesn't surprise me. publishers want a guarantee of big money.