Command & Conquer: The Ultimate Collection, a compilation of all 17 games and expansions released in the classic real-time strategy franchise, is now available for $49.99 at retail and digitally through Origin.

Buyers of The Ultimate Collection will receive early access to the beta version of the next Command & Conquer, the free-to-play series reboot that is in development at BioWare Victory and scheduled for release in 2013. The package also includes a 20-song franchise soundtrack. The boxed copy of the Ultimate Collection comes with a download code for the games, not a disc, but it includes a CD of the soundtrack instead of a downloadable version, as well as commemorative art. (Both the soundtrack and art are available only in the US versions of The Ultimate Collection.)

All 17 games in the three Command & Conquer universes — Tiberium, Red Alert, and Generals — have been updated to work on Windows Vista and Windows 7. (The Ultimate Collection does not include 2012's Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances, a browser-based free-to-play massively multiplayer online RTS). Here's the full list:

• Tiberium universe
  • Command & Conquer (1995)
  • Command & Conquer: The Covert Operations (1996)
  • Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun (1999)
  • Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun - Firestorm (2000)
  • Command & Conquer: Renegade (2002)
  • Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (2007)
  • Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath (2008)
  • Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight (2010)
• Red Alert universe
  • Command & Conquer: Red Alert (1996)
  • Command & Conquer: Red Alert - Counterstrike (1997)
  • Command & Conquer: Red Alert - The Aftermath (1997)
  • Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 (2000)
  • Command & Conquer: Red Alert - Yuri's Revenge (2001)
  • Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (2008)
  • Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Uprising (2009)
• Generals universe
  • Command & Conquer: Generals (2003)
  • Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour (2003)

The online multiplayer modes in Tiberian Sun, Tiberian Sun - Firestorm, Red Alert 2, Red Alert - Yuri's Revenge, and Command & Conquer: Renegade are still playable through the community-run XWIS service.