Some interviews we get to do are face to face, full of real energy and give and take. Others, because of time and distance, are best conducted via email. You will generally get a lot of great stuff from face to face interviews, but some of my favourite ones have been pure electronic transactions.
Then again, others tend to sound like they’ve been pasted from press releases. Or, in this case, when we were given the opportunity to run some questions past Jon Van Caneghem, an executive producer on the new Command & Conquer, from the game's FAQ and some of the same answers given to a IGN and Gamespot in their recent interviews.
But hey, I’m not bitter, and content is after all content.
What is the free to play structure you're going with for C&C? Will there be micro-payment-based, Premium options?
We are still building out the game and aren’t ready to discuss gameplay or content specifics yet. In our development, we are guided by the commitment to create a gameplay experience that offers the cerebral, strategic fun and fast-paced action that fans have come to expect from our franchise
Does this affect the nature of the end product, or is C&C still the same triple-A title fans have been expecting?
Command and Conquer is a traditional, full blown RTS experience that fans of the franchise will immediately recognize and enjoy. It is a full standalone client – a high quality game flush with cutting-edge visuals, sound and destruction of a full, AAA strategy game, all powered by Frostbite 2.
With a lot of titles changing to free to play, or being released this way from the outset, how do you think this model will impact game publishing?
I think it’s more about how we’re now building more meaningful and direct relationships with our consumers, which is incredibly powerful. This allows us to continuously create content based on what the players want.
I know you're focused on C&C, but can you see the free to play model being used in more EA titles?
I can’t comment on any specifics of other titles, but Electronic Arts is focused on new, digital business models that will include free to play options.
Finally, this is the first free to play game I can think of that's had a single-player component - with free to play generally used in MP environments, has this impacted the campaign experience at all?
For launch we are focusing on our multiplayer experience, both competitive and cooperative, that we want to get in your hands on as soon as possible. From there, we will continuously evaluate additional content based on a variety of player feedback.
