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EA to Open Source PC Game Command & Conquer, Enabling You to Create Crazy Mods

'We believe this will be one of the first major RTS franchises to open source their source code,' EA producer Jim Vessella said as the company prepares to release a 4K remaster of the classic PC strategy games.

Michael Kan
 & Michael Kan Principal Reporter

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(Yep, that's a Nod-controlled Mammoth tank firing a nuke. Credit: EA)

The source code to a classic PC strategy game, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn, is going to be made freely available, enabling fans to easily mod it.  

Electronic Arts announced the news as the company prepares to release the 4K remaster to Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn and Command & Conquer: Red Alert on June 5th. 

In a Reddit post on Wednesday, EA producer Jim Vessella said the company has been receiving questions over whether the remaster will support gamer-made modifications. In response, EA has decided to open source the gaming code to both Tiberian Dawn and Red Alert.

“This is a key moment for Electronic Arts, the C&C community, and the gaming industry, as we believe this will be one of the first major RTS franchises to open source their source code under the GPL (GNU General Public License),” Vessella wrote. “Our goal was to deliver the source code in a way that would be truly beneficial for the community, and we hope this will enable amazing community projects for years to come.”

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Command & Conquer Remasted Collection Image (Credit: EA)

The Command & Conquer remaster, which is up for pre-order on Steam and Origin, will also arrive with a map editor and skirmish mode. So combined with the source code, the modding community should be able to easily customize the classic PC games as they see fit. This includes editing units, replacing the art, and altering the gameplay logic.

As an example, Vessella said Petroglyph Games, the studio in charge of remaster, has created a new unit for the game: a Brotherhood of Nod-hijacked Mammoth Tank that fires nuclear bombs. “This is a unit which is fully playable in the game via a mod (seen in the screenshot above), and we hope to have it ready to play and serve as a learning example when the game launches,” he added. 

Gamers will be able to share their mods and customized maps over Steam’s Workshop platform. However, the mods will only work on the single player skirmish mode and over single player custom missions, according to an FAQ. EA says the source code will be published alongside the Command & Conquer remaster launch on June 5th.

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Michael Kan

Michael Kan

Principal Reporter

My Experience

I've been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I'm currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country's technology sector.

Since 2020, I've covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I've combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink's cellular service.

I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.

I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I'm now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I'm always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.

The Best Tech I've Had:

  • My first video game console: a Nintendo Famicom
  • I loved my Sega Saturn despite PlayStation's popularity.
  • The iPod Video I received as a gift in college
  • Xbox 360 FTW
  • The Galaxy Nexus was the first smartphone I was proud to own.
  • The PC desktop I built in 2013, which still works to this day.

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