Command & Conquer is back in the most surprising way

EA has just dropped some news that could interest any budding game developers. It's made four Command & Conquer titles open source, giving up the source code for the legacy real-time strategy franchise under a general public licence (GPL).

The decision seems unusually generous from EA, and it could be a good opportunity for indie devs who want to build their learning picking apart games of the past (see our pick of the best game dev software to get started on your journey).

EA has released restored original source code on for Command & Conquer and Red Alert, Command & Conquer: Renegade and Command & Conquer: Generals. It's been added to EA’s GitHub page alongside the Command & Conquer Remastered Collection from 2020.

The code was recovered and restored by EA technical director Brian Barnes, Respawn producer Jim Vessella and Luke 'CCHyper' Feenan, a Command & Conquer community member who proposed and organised the release. Feenan was involved the Remastered Collection and in getting the C&C Ultimate Collection on Steam in March.

Fan projects have approximated the code in the past, but access to the full original code will help modders and restorers keep the games playable and could help new developers to hone their skills. Assets and cinematics haven't been made open source though.

Meanwhile, EA is adding Steam Workshop support to newer Command & Conquer titles along with a modding support pack. This contains the source XML, Schema, Script, Shader, and map files for all SAGE engine C&C titles so users can make new maps and assets.

EA has also published on YouTube newly discovered footage from the C&C Archive for C&C Renegade and C&C Generals featuring alpha gameplay and prototype cinematics.

Command & Conquer Archive Footage from Renegade and Generals - YouTube

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Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.

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