What exactly is Westwood doing with Dune 2000 and Tiberian Sun?

The other day I was just surfing around and I stumbled upon an advertisement for Dune 2000. It said right in the add "May 1998 Release" you could imagine my surprise (or lack there of) at seeing this. Now that I think back on it I remember checking the Sole Survivor Ladder back in Febuary and January seeing these ads. Heck, I even went to a Dune 2000 chat on Westwood Online in which Brent Sperry (CEO and co-founder of Westwood Studios) stopped by. Westwood gave it all this support and hype yet it hasn't been released yet and it has been 3 months. I can understand late breaking bugs and incompatibilities, so a month delay is reasonable. This again would not be a big problem seeing how Half- Life has been delayed for years now, but Valve doesn't have another big hitter coming right up the turnpike. What makes me wonder what the hell Westwood is doing is because Command & Conquer 2: Tiberian Sun is supposed to be released by late October, or mid November. So, if Westwood doesn't release Dune 2000 in the next few days or at the most 2 weeks, Dune 2000 could easily be caught in the wake of Tiberian Sun. Not what Westwood wants of course. They want 2 mega-blockbusters, except if they don't space it out right they could be screwing themselves. This leaves Westwood with 2 options, neither that appealing for either side (themselves and the consumer), they can release an unfinished product just for the point of publishing it, or they can delay Tiberian Sun so that Dune 2000 can rake in some cash. The last option worries me because it is too likely and too easy to push. All Westwood has to say to do this is, "We have found some new bugs in the C&C 2 engine" or "We are adding new features." The list could go on and on. C&C 2 might be pushed back by a couple of weeks, but is Westwood sure it wants to jeopardize its most lucrative francise? The reason this is, is because a November release date secures a place in the Christmas buying rush which is quite a nice place to be. Many people will buy because of name recognition for Tiberian Sun, but how many will recognize the name Dune 2000? No where near as many as will recognize Command & Conquer. Another factor to consider is EA's aquistion of all available Westwood stock. EA stands to lose a bundle if Tiberian Sun misses the Christmas season. So to me it looks like Dune 2000 will be lost in Tiberian Sun's wake as will many other games. The reason? Dune 2000 isn't really new, it is a remake of Dune 2. This is great, if you are a fan of Dune 2, if not you really couldn't care. When Red Alert was released 2 years ago at Christmas it blew everything else out of the water, I would like you to name another real-time strategy game that came out within the next 4 months that was a big hit. Really there was nothing. Red Alert is still very dominating in the real-time strategy genre. If Tiberian Sun turns out to be as much of a winner as Red Alert it looks like Dune 2000 will be another good game lost in the wake of a great game.

The Clair

August 24, 1998