F2P Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances goes live

The classic C&C series has moved into the free-to-play realm, with the official release of the browser game Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances. EA calls the spin-off a massively multiplayer online strategy game, letting players pick a faction and fight for territory.

You can visit the site to start playing, and choose between the Global Defense Initiative (GDI) or the Nod. You'll be harvesting resources, building armies, and creating alliances, though it carries a different feel than the traditional series. The game promises a "dynamic theater of war," which shifts according to the balance of power. Sometime in the next few months, developer Phenomic plans to add cloud saves, which will allow you to swap from playing on a PC web browser to a smart phone or tablet without losing progress.

You may recall that Tiberium Alliances had a flare-up of controversy due to its similarity to the tanks in the Warhammer 40K tabletop series. An EA representative said that internal concept art was to blame, so this final version shouldn't have those similar tanks in play.

If you'd rather hold out for a more traditional C&C experience, Command & Conquer Generals 2 is scheduled to hit in 2013.