Alpha testers of what was to be the latest iteration of the legendary RTS franchise Command and Conquer were informed yesterday that EA have pulled the plug on the game's development. A statement released via the Command and Conquer website signed by Victory Games, the EA studio dedicated to continuing development on the C&C series, puts the decision firmly on tester feedback.

"Your feedback from the alpha trial is clear: We are not making the game you want to play. That is why, after much difficult deliberation, we have decided to cease production of this version of the game."

As the alpha testers won't be able to keep whatever they bought in-game through micro-transactions they also say that they will be refunding all in game purchases.

"Over the next 10 days we will be refunding any and all money spent in the alpha. If you have a question about your refund, please contact help.ea.com."

The statement also goes on to talk about the future of the Command and Conquer series, presumably to assure gamers that this doesn't mean that EA are giving up on it completely, which, unfortunately many gamers have due to EA's recent C&C titles.

While this means a financial loss for EA due to investments made in development, it's also a personal loss for Victory Games, who have closed their doors, leaving the development team out of a job. While EA are portrayed in internet gaming circles as being an evil mega-gaming-corporation, perhaps it's better to cut development short than to drag the graffiti'd corpse of Command and Conquer out of the wardrobe again to show us that this time it looks slightly more desiccated and slightly less appealing. Is this not what gamers wanted anyway?  For EA to listen to them?