C&C F2P to have "longest running beta phase in franchise history"

The upcoming free-to-play revival of Command & Conquer will open tentative doors to the public next year.

In a post on the game's blog, Command & Conquer's community manager revealed when fans can finally see what BioWare Victory has been up to behind the scenes.

"As planned right now, the Beta will start in the first half of 2013, and will be the longest running beta phase in franchise history," he said.

Interestingly, the site seems to have dropped all mention of the Generals 2 subtitle attached to the game before its free-to-play leanings were announced; it's not clear whether EA has two different projects on the go now and the lack of communication seems to be a deliberate strategy.

"We know you have a lot more questions about the new Command & Conquer and you may be wondering why we are so silent about it," the blog added.

"We’ve decided to actually let the game speak for itself, instead of starting the typical marketing noise you normally would expect."

The post certainly flies in the face of marketing conventions by breaking a taboo in mentioning less than stellar past entries.

"The team here and I know that previous Command & Conquer titles had issues – some less, some more," it noted.

"C&C4 (yes, I just named it) was especially far below the expectations and standards a lot of us had for C&C games. So we know how you guys feel – and I am talking a lot with our design team to discuss the game mechanics, features and meta-game of our new Command & Conquer in development."

Thanks, Blue's News.