My Honest Opinion on the Release of C&C: Rivals (aka Update 6/9) blog - SteamsDev

As the title may suggest, this is my honest opinion about the announcement of the upcoming installment to the C&C Franchise, C&C: Rivals, announced for iOS and Androird on this day, June 9, 2018, approximately 3:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. I have seen the reactions from a number of C&C fans, namely Alstar and the like, and I think they are all justified for having the reaction they had to this announcement. With that, here is what I think, as a well and true C&C fan, about the announcement of C&C: Rivals.

To be honest, this isn't what I had hoped for.

What I had hoped for is the announcement of a brand-spanking new C&C Title, driven by the success of its predecessors from the 2nd Generation, and had been given the time and thought that it needed to become the greatest RTS game of the modern generation. I was hoping, at least since 2017, that it would have a port for the Nintendo Switch and maybe even support Amiibo, and that it would bring C&C not only back to its roots, but had its roots improved profoundly and had everything we loved from a C&C Game and RTS Games in general.

Alas, this new upcoming title has none of that. So far there is no indication that this game has any of the characteristics listed above, other than base building and unit production. This is essentially bringing the C&C series out of its comfort zone and into a place where poor reviews are inevitable, there is no sign of anything form any of its previous titles (even the browser-based games), and it would drive away newcomers as soon as they heard about what the C&C series was, and no longer impress the current audience. This is the game that will truly, and sadly, destroy the franchise as we know it. Cue the RA2 Missle Launched Alarm.

So why are the reasons for EA doing this? well, I think the big reason is that EA just wanted to make the game they wanted to make. They had that big vision about this big C&C Game that would bring the game play to the mobile platform and that it would have this royale battlefield-Esq game play for the audience to enjoy. They just went with that they wanted, completely ignoring us, their fan-base, and taking matters into their own hands to deliver so that the franchise can keep going. This is why there are negative reactions. This is why the reveal was taken so poorly and disrespectfully. EA is doing what Nintendo did with their franchises sicne the Wii and DS era in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Nintendo is having this vision that their games should be made for kids, completely ignoring the story aspect of the games and focusing purely on gameplay, and the result was a decline in the interest of their games, because it wasn't what the fans were looking for. A few of their title namely are Paper Mario; Sticker Star, Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam, Super Mario Bros. Wii and U, Super Mario 3D World, and the list goes on. These titles were meant for a brand new fan-base, not the fan-base they had. It was what the developers wanted, not the fans.

Any other reasons? I think another reason is that they decided not to do the standard RTS anymore. They wanted to dip into experimentation and see what they can do with the franchise, instead of stick with what they always had done. This is like what SEGA did with their top franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog, on multiple occasions, namely when going into 3D territory as well as trying new mechanics and game play aspects. Just like with Nintendo, this resulted in games that were either A: poor in terms of gameplay and maybe even story, or B: games that the fans never wanted. This here is a common mistake for game developers. Believe me, I follow multiple gaming franchises at this point.

All that to say, this is not the game I was hoping for. However, I would say to not take it so poorly just yet: It is just starting out. I already have pre-registered for my alpha copy of Rivals and I am willing to try it to see if what I say holds true. In any case, may the #NotMyCnC stand strong. EA, I think at this point you should do one of two things with the C&C franchise: A) Give the rights and assets of C&C to another company and be done with it. It makes me sad to say this, but you are no longer worthy of making the next big C&C game. Your constant humiliation and desecration of the C&C franchise has made you a clear hater of the old C&C, and you should no longer be developing these types of games for the fans you worked your hats off for. Just give up the franchise to some other company and be done with it. You can only do one other thing, and that is B) Put the time and effort into a game which we can all enjoy. I don't care how long I have to wait (I will wait 20 years), but you can still save the franchise. Do it for us, EA, not for yourself.

And with that, I shall close off this long and potentially boring opinion essay about C&C: Rivals. Let me know what you think about the announcement. Was there anything I missed? Was this something that let down your spirit? Let me know in the comments, and enjoy the rest of your day (except you, EA).