EA Announces Red Alert 3 Expansion (January 8, 2009)

[ChrisReid]

Electronic Arts has formally announced Uprising, a standalone expansion to Command & Conquer Red Alert 3. Like other recent games in C&C franchise, Uprising will once again feature a story told through high definition cutscenes with live actors. In an unusual twist, the game is being touted as a PC exclusive. Even more unusual, and possibly on a related note, the game will be available only as a digital download instead of a boxed retail release. Similar exclusives have been temporary before migrating to other platforms and distribution methods in the past however. The game is due for release this March, less than five months after RA3 made its debut.

”Uprising is a game that in many ways reflects the feedback we have gotten from the Command & Conquer community,” said Amer Ajami, Senior Producer at EA Los Angeles. “We’re giving gamers more of what they want – more of the fast, fluid and fun gameplay, more of the story we began to tell in Red Alert 3 and more cutscenes featuring top-notch Hollywood talent. At the same time, we’re excited we’re going to be able to bring new things to the mix, including new units and the Commander’s Challenge, which is a great way for players to hone their skills and get deeper into the combat.”

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Original update published on January 8, 2009

 

[AD]

In an unusual twist, the game is being touted as a PC exclusive. Even more unusual, and possibly on a related note, the game will be available only as a digital download instead of a boxed retail release.

I don't know if it's related or not, but it could be a test by EA. They only just recently started selling their games on Valve's Steam service (despite reportedly recently also spending millions developing their own download service). Steam is definitely very good at letting people know when new content for games they already have is available. It will be interesting to see how this fares and if any other platform eventually gets it too.

 

[MartySheen]

Its great to hear that theyre doing another C&C expansion, however I would like to see another expansion set for tiberium wars (in my opinion far superior to RA3). Is this likely (im guessing not)?

 

[Bandit LOAF]

I don't know if it's related or not, but it could be a test by EA.

My gut feeling is that this is probably less of a test and more of an attempt to recoup some costs. My understanding is that the previous 'big' C&C addons (Firestorm, Yuri's Revenge, Kane's Wrath) were all developed/budgeted as part of their parent product... so, for instance by the time C&C3 shipped, much of the resources for Kane's Wrath had already been generated (including the film shoot). I'm guessing what we see here is that RA3 didn't meet expectations and so it's getting material that was already produced (like cutscenes with Gemma Atkinson) put out at a minimal cost (no disc run, Xbox port, etc.)

 

[ZFGokuSSJ1]

I just finished the last of the campaigns yesterday, so I'm really eager to try out this expansion. Also played online in versus mode. I shit my pants in fear, since I never played C&C online with someone, but I still won. I hope Uprising is also available on Impulse... of all the digital distribution services, I find Impulse to be the best to buy from.