EA just released source code for a bunch of old Command and Conquer games, and added Steam Workshop support to bangers like C&C 3: Tiberium Wars

I have a diseased mind that only wants one thing—a proper remaster of Tiberian Sun, much like Red Alert and OG Command and Conquer got back in 2020 with the release of the Command and Conquer: Remastered Collection.

Well, I haven’t got it yet, but I have got a decent second prize: EA’s announced that it’s releasing the source code for a bunch of old C&C games and—here’s the bit where I, as a man who enjoys modding but is also very lazy, gets excited—adding Steam Workshop support to a few more.

The games getting a source code release are Command & Conquer (Tiberian Dawn), Red Alert, C&C Renegade, and C&C Generals and Zero Hour. They’re being released under the GPL license, meaning folks can mix, match, and redistribute them to their hearts’ content without EA lawyers smashing down the door. You can find them all on EA’s Github page.

As for the Steam Workshop? That’s getting switched on for C&C Renegade, C&C Generals and Zero Hour, C&C 3 Tiberium Wars and Kane’s Wrath, and C&C 4 Tiberium Twilight (they can’t all be winners). EA’s also gone and “updated all the Mission Editor and World Builder tools so you can publish maps directly to the Steam Workshop.”

Plus, it’s putting out a modding support pack that “contains the source Xml, Schema, Script, Shader and Map files for all the games that use the SAGE engine.” I lack the useful skills to know what that really means for the modding scene, but I look forward to reaping the benefits down the line.

So it ain’t a full-on remaster of Tiberian Sun and RA2 (although I believe in my gut we’ll get those some day), but it’s not bad, and it’s cool to see something be done with C&C after EA suddenly dropped the Ultimate Collection on Steam last year.

Per C&C producer Jim Vessella, EA commissioned C&C community veteran Luke ‘CCHyper’ Feenan to officially research improvements to many of the games in the Ultimate Collection,” and this is the fruit of his labour. Say what you like about EA—and I will—but it’s great passionate devs and fans have been given the room and means to keep classics like C&C alive.