Command & Conquer: Generals 2 won't launch with single-player

The recently announced as free-to-play Command & Conquer: Generals 2 will launch without single-player, developer Bioware Victory has announced.

Bioware Victory general manager John Van Caneghem revealed in an interview with PC Gamer that Generals 2 will ship as a multiplayer-only affair. Co-op and competitive modes will be the focus, while other modes will be added based on community feedback. When asked about a story mode, he said, "it is something we haven't announced yet how we're going to do it."

Van Caneghem added that the studio "really want to get back to the roots of what made Command & Conquer great" by letting players "build a zillion units" and "go out and kill all the bad guys" in a dedicated online space.

He explained that the great thing about an ongoing online game is that you can tailor it based on player demand on the fly. "You can see what the community wants, you can give it a shot, you can put it up for a weekend and see how it goes, develop towards what the fans like."

Van Caneghem noted that other Command & Conquer spin-offs would be added to EA's free-to-play Command & Conquer universe as well. "We decided to choose Generals as the first set of games we build under the universe, but we'll be expanding after that, like Tiberium and Red Alert as well as some others as well. But Generals 2 was the first one, and it was one of the biggest sellers, as well as the fanbase has been asking for it for some time."

Elsewhere, he added that he'd like to add e-sports features. "We're really going to run the gambit of what people enjoy in a multiplayer environment," he said.

"I don't think we're making a list of the features yet, but I think you can basically make a list of the assumed ones that you'd need to be an e-sports game, and it's definitely part of the plan."