Now we know why those four Command and Conquer games got a price slash: EA just dropped a bundle of old-time classics on Steam, including virtually every C&C game ever made

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Just a couple days after Electronic Arts slashed the price of four Command and Conquer games to nearly nothing on Steam, it's become apparent why: EA released more than a dozen old-time classic videogames on Steam today including Populous, Dungeon Keeper, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, The Saboteur, and a big bundle called Command and Conquer: The Ultimate Collection.

The Ultimate Collection is not a new Command and Conquer bundle: It was originally assembled back in 2012, and it's previously been available on the EA App. But now you can pick it up on Steam, which should make just about everyone happier.

The downside—a very small one, in my mind—is that this is now the only way to get the individual Command and Conquer games on Steam. So if you wanted, for instance, Red Alert 3 or Tiberium Wars, you have to buy the whole bundle. That's not a terrible situation, especially right now with the package on sale for half price—that's $10—and it's a whole lot o' C&C for a tenner:

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Command & Conquer
Command & Conquer: The Covert Operations
Command & Conquer: Red Alert
Command & Conquer: Red Alert: Counterstrike
Command & Conquer: Red Alert: The Aftermath
Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun
Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun Firestorm
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge
Command & Conquer: Renegade
Command & Conquer: Generals
Command & Conquer: Generals: Zero Hour
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars: Kane's Wrath
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3: Uprising
Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight

The only one missing, as far as I can tell, is C&C: Sole Survivor, a multiplayer spinoff that went offline in 2002.

Each of the games in the bundle still has its own Steam page (for now, at least) as seen in the bundle listing, but the only available purchase option for most of them is the Ultimate Collection. A few, like C&C: Renegade, have links to "check out the entire Command & Conquer franchise on Steam," which takes you to a more conventional Steam category page, but confusingly that leads back to the individual store pages with Ultimate Collection purchase links anyway, so you're back where you started.

It's a bit of a strange setup, but as a reader pointed out after the story first went up, maintaining separate game pages and pricing has a pretty distinct upside: If you already own any of the games in the bundle, their cost will be discounted from the price of the bundle, so you only pay for the games you don't already have. In their case, they already owned Command and Conquer 3, 4, and Red Alert 3, so those games were excluded when they purchased the bundle and it ended up costing $5.

Command and Conquer Ultimate Collection - partial bundle pricing on Steam — Command and Conquer 3, 4, and Red Alert 3 are excluded from the Ultimate Collection bundle pricing because they're already owned. (Image credit: KG)

The bottom line is that every Command and Conquer game (including Renegade, which is grossly underrated and I won't apologize for saying so) for ten bucks, or less if you already own any of them, is a very good deal. Even at regular price, I'd call it a winner.

If Command and Conquer isn't your thing, these also turned up on Steam today:

Despite their age, there are some genuine bangers here. Alpha Centauri stands as one of the highest-rated games in PC Gamer history, and Populous—my sentimental favorite of the bunch—is Peter Molyneux at the peak of his powers, back before, well, everything. The Saboteur, which I believe is the newest of the bunch, is also very well regarded, and oddly has until now been available on GOG and EA, but not Steam.

All of these games are on sale now too: The Saboteur is $5, for instance, while Populous, Sim City 3000, and Dungeon Keeper Gold are $2 each. The sale prices are on until March 21.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.