When will C&C RA2/YR be free?

[Zenose]

I know there was a main thread about how to get C&C RA2/YR. What I am wondering is if there is any news on when the game might be free to grab. I don't need to purchase or get it free myself as I own it, but I assume when it goes free it will defiantly expand the number of players on CNCnet playing RA2/YR (my personal favorite C&C).

[Tore]

If EA decides to release the game as freeware we will surely put up a download for it. Until then we cannot.

[hardman]

I guess while EA are still making any sort of money selling it they won't make it free

[Zenose]

Is there not a standard amount of time that a game has until it is considered free?

[Tore]

About 54 years from now.

[fir3w0rx]

Electronic Arts released the following games as freeware for these reasons:

 

Tiberian Dawn  - to promote the release of Tiberium Wars (2007)

Red Alert 1 - to promote the release of Red Alert 3 (2008)

Tiberian Sun - to promote the release of Tiberian Twilight (2010)

 

TD and RA1 were supposedly released to mark the 12th and 13th anniversaries as well, but I don't believe that, yeah right.

 

Red Alert 2 was actually 'free' as bonus disks with Red Alert 3 (only pre-ordered copies I think, I've forgotten now)

 

So, going by all that, I'm guessing that the next C&C game (probably RA2) to be released as freeware will be released when (or if) EA decides to develop another C&C product. Either that or when some rich dude that wants RA2 to become freeware decides to buy the rights from EA .

[Plokite_Wolf]

Is there not a standard amount of time that a game has until it is considered free?

A game will be considered abandonware if the game is unsupported and can no longer be bought for about 10-15 years. The last patches for the games were seen in 2001, but RA2 and YR can still be bought easily through The Ultimate Collection. So to answer your question - when TUC stops being sold and/or EA drops dead without selling the franchise to someone first.

[Nyerguds]

Being abandonware does not make a game legal to distribute freely, though. It just means the chance of the owning company taking legal action for distributing it is practically nonexistent. Still, distributing it is often frowned upon if it's not actually freeware.

[Plokite_Wolf]

Still, distributing it is often frowned upon if it's not actually freeware.

The only site I've seen that dislikes linking to abandonware is CNCNZ.com. Others either tolerate it or encourage asking through PMs (e.g. older games like NHL 2004 have devoted modding communities, but the game is no longer sold, so admins deal it through PMs).

[Tore]

Abandonware is not a legal status and software considered to be abandonware still enjoys the same protections under the law as any proprietary work. The closest you get to it in law is the term "orphan work" a work which the owner is not known. "Orphan works" are still under copyright, but the copyright offices in certain countries allows you to pay a fee to use them.

[Plokite_Wolf]

That just sounds like a meaningless bureaucracy festival. Luckily, that stuff is rarely endorsed when it comes to abandonware.