EA today announced that the concluding chapter to the Tiberian saga, entitled Commander & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, will hit store shelves March 16 in the US, with a European release following on the 19th.

Exclusive to PC, those who pre-order the game at participating retailers will receive access to the upcoming beta test, as well as a copy of the game’s soundtrack and an additional prequel bonus mission.

Command & Conquer 4 Tiberian Twilight Dated, Hits Shelves March 16 - [eXophase.com]

According to EA community manager APOC, the recently announced Command & Conquer 4 will require an always on, active internet connection, even in single player campaigns.

APOC explains that the inclusion of a robust stat-tracking system was the primary motivation factor behind making a persistent connection a necessity.

As of right now, you need to be online all the time to play C&C 4. This is primarily due to our “player progression” feature so everything can be tracked. C&C 4 is not an MMO in the sense of World of Warcraft, but conceptually it has similar principles for being online all the time. While some may be taken aback by this, we’ve been testing this feature internally with all of our world-wide markets. We wanted to make sure it wouldn’t take away any significant market or territory from playing the game. We have not found or seen any results that have made us think otherwise. You won’t need a fast connection, in fact, you could be on age-old dial-up, and have the same single player experience as everyone else. Online all the time won’t cause lag for single-player. We’ve also heavily worked on the online infrastructure such that people with slower connections will not lag other players with faster connections in Multiplayer.

Interesting decision, one that I think will not be taken lightheartedly by longtime fans of the franchise. It’s one thing to require an active internet connection for activation purposes, but to always require it during solo gameplay sessions seems a bit excessive. Technicalities aside, surely stats could be recorded offline then sent to master severs once the player goes online? I feel more justification is needed here.

A PC-exclusive effort, Command & Conquer 4 is due out in 2010.

Command & Conquer 4 Requires Always On Internet Connection - [eXophase.com]

After being accidentally announced yesterday, EA today lifted the wraps on RTS sequel Command & Conquer 4, the final concluding chapter to the Tiberium saga.

Set in the futuristic era of 2062 on a decaying planet Earth, Command & Conquer 4 finds opposing factions Global Defense Initiative (GDI) and the Brotherhood of Nod forming an unlikely alliance, banding together in an effort to stop Tiberium from dealing a grim fate to what is left of mankind. In what EA labels as an “epic conclusion” poised to bring closure to longtime fans of the franchise, players will discover Nod leader Kane’s true motivations behind his “decade-long plan.”

A wealth of all-new gameplay mechanics are being incorporated into the fourth installment, including “class-based gameplay, mobile bases and persistent player progression throughout all game modes.” In addition to plot-driven solo campaigns for both factions, C&C 4 will feature a 5v5 objective-based multiplayer mode.

Get ready to save the world next year, as Command & Conquer 4 is pegged for a 2010 release date on PC.

EA Details, Dates PC Exclusive Command & Conquer 4 for 2010 - [eXophase.com]

Clearly whoever is managing the Twitter account over at EA’s UK PR division has an itchy finger, as a tweet went up today “announcing” that Command & Conquer 4 is in development at the company’s Los Angeles studio.

Unfortunately, we are still empty handed with info, as the press release linked in the tweet redirects to a nonexistent URL, leading us to believe this announcement was made prematurely — accidentally even.

Rumor has it the fourth entry in the series will keep things fresh with an arsenal of RPG elements, while staying true to the rock-solid RTS formula of past installments.

EA Accidentally Confirms Command & Conquer 4 Is In Development - [eXophase.com]