C&C4 overrunning PCs in 2010

Electronic Arts has finally officially announced Command & Conquer 4, the next and final chapter in the original "Tiberium series" storyline begun in 1995's Command & Conquer. The game's existence was not-so-subtly hinted at in a customer survey in June, then preemptively revealed via a Twitter update yesterday. After declining to comment for weeks, EA is now confirming the features outlined in the survey, including mobile bases, a role-playing-game-like class system, and persistent experience accrual similar to that of massively multiplayer role-playing games.

C&C4 will depict the final fates of the Tiberium series' two factions: the benevolent alliance of the Global Defense Initiative and the evil paramilitaries of the Brotherhood of Nod. It will be set in the year 2062, when Earth becomes so completely covered with the toxic (yet energy-rich) mineral known as Tiberium that the human race is in peril of extinction. In the face of this threat, the longtime enemy factions join forces against a common foe. EA suggests that this uneasy truce will lead to an explanation of the long-term plans set forth by Nod leader Kane in games, such as Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars and its expansion, Kane's Wrath.

Command & Conquer 4 will offer two different campaigns for each faction, which can be played solo or in cooperative mode. In addition, the game will have a brand new, five-versus-five, objective-based multiplayer mode for online play. The unrated game will ship sometime in 2010 for the PC, with no other platforms yet announced. C&C3 was also ported to the Xbox 360 and Mac, while C&C: Red Alert 3 made it to the PlayStation 3.

For more details, you can read GameSpot's exclusive Q&A here.