Westwood Studios
Westwood Studios was a former American video game development and publishing studio, best known for helping to popularise the real-time strategy genre. Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, the company developed numerous games for PCs and consoles during its existence and remains best known for the Dune, The Legend of Kyrandia and, of course, Command & Conquer series.
The studio’s history began in 1985, when Brett W. Sperry and Louis Castle founded a small company in Las Vegas called Westwood Associates. The team initially worked on adaptations and various projects for other publishers. Its early productions included Mars Saga, BattleTech, DragonStrike and, most notably, Eye of the Beholder, a role-playing game released in 1991 which helped to raise the studio’s profile amongst an international audience.
The early 1990s marked a major turning point. Following its acquisition by Virgin Games in 1992, Westwood Associates became Westwood Studios. That same year saw the release of The Legend of Kyrandia, the first instalment in a series of adventure games, but above all Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty. With its resource gathering, base building, unit production and real-time combat, Dune II laid the foundations for many of the mechanics that would become hallmarks of modern real-time strategy games.
Building on this experience, Westwood launched Command & Conquer in 1995, which enjoyed significant international success. The studio followed this up with Command & Conquer: Red Alert in 1996. The franchise quickly became one of the genre’s leading names thanks to its fast-paced gameplay, wide variety of units, campaigns punctuated by cutscenes, and multiplayer mode.
Westwood did not, however, limit itself to strategy games. The studio experimented with various genres and made a name for itself in 1997 with Blade Runner, an adventure game inspired by Ridley Scott’s famous film. The game stood out for its atmosphere, technical execution and a storyline that evolved according to the player’s actions.
In 1998, Westwood Studios was acquired by Electronic Arts. This same period saw the release of Dune 2000, a reimagining of Dune II. Becoming part of Electronic Arts’ international network enabled Westwood’s productions to benefit from particularly wide distribution.
The year 1999 was marked by the release of Command & Conquer: Tiberium Sun, a direct sequel to the first Command & Conquer, as well as Lands of Lore III. Tiberium Sun was a major commercial success and expanded the futuristic universe pitting the GDI against the Brotherhood of Nod. Its expansion pack, Firestorm, was released the following year.
At the same time, Westwood established a branch in Irvine, California, known as Westwood Pacific. This branch produced, amongst other titles, Nox and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, both of which were released in 2000. Red Alert 2 was a huge success and received the Yuri's Revenge expansion pack in 2001. The team’s achievements led Electronic Arts to transform Westwood Pacific into a separate studio, named EA Pacific, in November 2001.
Westwood, for its part, continued its work with Emperor: Battle for Dune in 2001, before enjoying a particularly busy year in 2002. Notably, the studio released Command & Conquer: Renegade, which transposed the franchise’s universe into a first-person action game, as well as Earth & Beyond, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Westwood also contributed to the production of Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat, released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.
Throughout its history, Westwood developed its games for a wide range of platforms, from the PC to consoles such as the Sega Saturn, the Nintendo 64, Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox. At its peak, the studio employed nearly 200 staff, including programmers, designers, scriptwriters, artists and composers. Westwood also distinguished itself early on through its interest in online gaming, notably via the Westwood Online service, which was used for the multiplayer modes of several of its titles.
In March 2003, as part of a major restructuring of Electronic Arts’ studios, Westwood Studios closed its doors for good. Some of its staff were invited to join Electronic Arts Los Angeles (EALA), which also housed the teams from EA Pacific. However, some former members chose to leave Electronic Arts and went on to found new studios.
Despite its closure, Westwood Studios continues to exert a significant influence on the history of video games. With Dune II, and particularly Command & Conquer and Red Alert, the studio played a major role in defining and popularising the mechanics of real-time strategy games. Its legacy continued after 2003 through the various instalments of Command & Conquer developed by Electronic Arts, whilst for many players, Westwood remains inextricably linked to the franchise’s golden age.