Command & Conquer (series)

Command & Conquer
The series logo in Command & Conquer 4
Genres	Real-time strategy (1995-2013) Third-person shooter (2017 Future)
Developers	Westwood Studios (1995–2003) EA Los Angeles (2003–2010) Victory Games (2011–2013) EA Phenomic (2011–2013)
Publishers	Electronic Arts Virgin Interactive Sega Nintendo
Platforms	Apple Macintosh, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, PC (MS-DOS, Windows), Sega Saturn, PlayStation Portable,Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Platform of origin	MS-DOS
First release	Command & Conquer 1995
Latest release	Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances 2013

Command & Conquer (abbreviated as C&C or CnC) is a real-time strategy video game franchise, first developed by Westwood Studios. The first game was one of the earliest of the RTS genre, itself based on Westwood Studios' landmark strategy game Dune 2 and introducing trademarks followed in the rest of the series. This includes full motion video cutscenes with a notable ensemble cast to progress the story, as opposed to digitally in-game rendered cutscenes. Westwood Studios was taken over by Electronic Arts in 1998 and eventually closed down in 2003. The studio and some of its members were absorbed into EA Los Angeles, which continued development on the series.

After Westwood Studios developed the successful Dune II, Computer Gaming World reported in 1993 that the company would not use the Dune license for Westwood's next strategy game "mostly because the programmers are tired of sand". The magazine stated that it would have "new terrain and enemies", and that "the design team is serious about doing a multi-player version".

Command & Conquer was released worldwide by Westwood on August 31, 1995. The plot is set sometime in the near future where the Earth becomes infected by a mysterious resource known only as Tiberium. A global war ensues between the UN-formed Global Defense Initiative to contain it and the cult quasi-state revolutionary Brotherhood of Nod, led by the enigmatic Kane, which seeks to harness it. Highly successful, it was followed by Command & Conquer: Red Alert in 1996 which is set in an alternate universe where the Soviet Union wages war with the Allied West. Developed as the prequel to the original, the Red Alert series was spun off into a separate, lighthearted and comic series, while the original game and its sequels became known as the "Tiberium" series, retaining its sci-fi and serious tone. The first game is sometimes referred to as Tiberian Dawn as a result.