Report: New EA Studio Victory Games Working On New Command & Conquer

An EA web site published briefly yesterday reportedly revealed a new EA studio, named Victory Games, will be working on new titles in the storied Command & Conquer real-time strategy series. Rock Paper Shotgun noticed the EA site's brief appearance yesterday, and reports that it mentioned Victory Games' existence as an LA, Texas and Shanghai-based studio heading EA's strategy game portfolio. The new studio will reportedly headed by Jon Van Canegham, who currently manages the Command & Conquer brand for EA Los Angeles and previously created the celebrated Might & Magic series. “Our current focus is making a AAA Command & Conquer game, which I am very excited to be working on…” Van Canegham reportedly said in an interview published on the EA site, adding that the title is being targeted for PC release. Plans for the series run past a single new title, however, according to the interview. "We’re not just working on a game, though. Our general focus is on the future of Command & Conquer," Van Canegham reportedly said. "That means updating a lot of the core technology to create a stable base for future development, and leveraging that work on this first game." Original Command & Conquer developer Westwood Studios was purchased by Electronic Arts in 1998 and transformed into the company's EA Pacific studio. That studio was liquidated in 2003, with many employees making the transition to EA Los Angeles, which has handled the franchise ever since. The series has drifted outside of its PC roots in recent years, with concurrent console versions of titles including Command and Conquer 3 and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3. [UPDATE: The interview discussed above has been reposted on the site, confirming the formation of the new studio and the new direction for the Command & Conquer series.]