EA boss sets sights on RTS genre renovation
Riccitiello sees new landscape for category
Chatting with US blog Kotaku, EA big wig John Riccitiello has said that the RTS genre is ripe for a major shake-up, and this is what the publisher intend to deliver with new Command & Conquer games.
C&C 4 is expect to reinvent the age-old IP, while there is also rumour that another new PC version of the game could see the series embrace a digital-only future.
"We've gotten to the point where you can see the particles around individual grenade explosions inside rooms where windows fall apart. That was never what made RTS good. That was just sort of eye candy on top of a very traditional game mechanic. From when Red Alert and Starcraft sort of defined the genre, it hasn't moved," Riccitiello offers.
"I'm a believer that the RTS sector is more open to fundamental innovation at a metagame level than almost any genre. I actually think that some of what Playfish does, in terms of iterating games on a weekly basis, Some of what Facebook does, in terms of letting you collectively experience things, have not been stitched together by the game industry in terms of lessons learned there."
