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tlwr: Electronic Arts has announced a new "30th Anniversary" version of Wing Commander III with cutscenes recovered from the original high quality tapes created when filming the game. This is now making the rounds in the mainstream gaming news!
On Saturday, October 11, Electronic Arts producer Jim Vessella hosted a panel at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo called "The Lost Tapes - Preserving the EA Vault and Restoring an FMV Classic". He revealed that he has located over 600 tapes stored by Electronic Arts which include the source video footage for Wing Commander III. This footage is being restored and will be included in a new release of the game, Wing Commander III 30th Anniversary Edition. We still have more questions than answers about the announcement but we thought it would be valuable to collect everything we do know in a new post. We've also included some of the major questions we're seeing even though answers are not yet available for many of them.
Social media users that were attending the panel have reported on the contents of the presentation and posted pictures showing some of Mr. Vessella's slide deck. One slide offers historical facts about Wing Commander III and the other lists features for the Wing Commander III 30th Anniversary Edition. Attendees report that the release will include the uncompressed original footage and a restored, upscaled version and that players can toggle between them. Some of this footage was shown to the panel and reactions online have been universally positive.
Is there a release date for Wing Commander III 30th Anniversary Edition?
No release date has been announced.
Why is it called the 30th Anniversary?
We do not know. The DOS original Wing Commander III released on December 8, 1994 which would mean that we are approaching its 32nd anniversary. The list of features does mention "Kilrathi Saga Integration." The Kilrathi Saga, mentioned in the presentation, was released on October 15, 1996, meaning that its 30th anniversary is just days away. It's also possible that they simply chose 30th because 32nd or 33rd (depending on whether this releases this year or next) is an unwieldy name.
We were particularly excited to spot a 30th Anniversary Edition logo on one of the slides which includes art of a spaceship! There's a special thrill to seeing new branding for Wing Commander after all these years.
What does "Kilrathi Saga Integration" mean?
This is also unclear. The Kilrathi Saga was a 1996 collection released by Origin which updated the first three Wing Commander games to play in Windows 95 rather than DOS. The most significant changes to the package were made to Wing Commander I and II but the Kilrathi Saga version of Wing Commander III does include updated music and throttle and rudder pedal support. The version currently available for purchase on GOG and the EA app is the DOS version; the Windows 95 version has only ever been available as a separate release in Japan.
What does "Community Enhancement Patch" mean?
The presentation noted that Electronic Arts has been working with members of the community. Since the feature list was revealed, several wingnuts have pointed out that both 60 FPS gameplay and controller support are features offered by Mash's Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch. We can't say if they have used or built on this patch specifically but it is a good look at the kinds of things that are possible with Wing Commander III!
Will this impact the versions of Wing Commander III found on GOG and the EA app?
This is also not clear. A release of the DOS version of Wing Commander III has been available through GOG since 2011 and via EA's endlessly-renamed and reworked service in 2014. We do not know what impact this game will have on those releases… but it's always a good idea to keep local copies of your GOG games as a backup!
This will be the first Wing Commander game released on Steam, which should provide much a wider audience for the series!
Will the panel be available to watch?
One of the attendees noted that Electronic Arts had professional videographers on hand to record the panel itself. It's not clear whether a video will be made available to the public or not, but it sounds like there was at least an intent to preserve everything.
Can the Wing Commander III video really improve much from the original release?
YES! Your memory plays some pretty big tricks on you. While you remember Wing Commander III as looking like a real movie, it's actually incredibly low quality compared to even something like pre-HD broadcast TV. The original FMV in Wing Commander III is 320x165 video running at 15 frames per second heavily compressed with a very early video format called Xanmovie.
Here is a comparison of the difference in resolution between the original Wing Commander III videos, the DVD release of Wing Commander IV and a standard 1080p BluRay movie. The original tape footage should be roughly twice the resolution of the DVD and the upscaled footage will likely be similar to the BluRay (or even higher!).
What was Wing Commander III shot on, anyway?
Wing Commander III was shot using Sony DVW-700 cameras. The raw 'green screen' footage for Wing Commander III was recorded on Digital Betacam tapes which had an NTSC resolution of 720x486. The edit masters were recorded to Sony D-1 tapes with the same resolution. The game's backgrounds and CG shots were also rendered at this resolution.
One point of confusion is that you may have seen posts about the Origin Museum having 35mm film footage from Wing Commander III. These reels were from a pre-production test shoot which was conducted to decide what the best technology to make the game would be. The 35mm scenes do not use the real actors (Chris Roberts appears as Blair!). Wing Commander IV WAS shot on 35mm film.
Who is Jim Vessella?
According to Mobygames, Jim Vessella has been a producer at Electronic Arts since at least 2004. He is credited with a number of high profile titles including the recent Star Wars Zero Company. He is best known as a friend to the retro gaming community because of his work making the 2020 Command & Conquer Remastered package happen. Members of the hardcore Command & Conquer community have kindly confirmed that this project is in good hands!
What does a video game producer do?
Game producers have a wide variety of responsibilities but most importantly they are the team members responsible for the forward movement that must happen to sustain any game development project. Producers manage an endless web of developers, schedules, resources and other logistics. Some producers are also known for their creative work while others focus on keeping things going behind the scenes.
I'm new to Wing Commander and the community! How can I get started?
WELCOME! The Wing Commander community today is a tightly knit group that has been together for some thirty years now… but that doesn't mean you aren't welcome! We always strive to be the kind of group that accepts new members regardless of their familiarity with our series. If you're interested in Wing Commander in any way then we'll happily get you started! In addition to this news site, we run a forum and a Discord for direct interaction. Come on down and we'll treat you like a friend!
Why might I want to be a Wing Commander fan?
First and foremost, Wing Commander is a lot of fun! It's an action arcade game on the surface but it's built on so many layers and taken in so many fascinating directions that across the main series there's something for everyone.
If you're interested in lore, we pack a LOT of it into a very manageable continuity: a dozen games, a handfull of novels, a season of an animated series and one very divisive movie. And Wing Commander nerds are always willing to talk about continuity!
We're also very passionate about preserving the history of the game which is a pretty important part of the video game story in general. Wing Commander helped define everything from how your computer talks to you to how giant AAA video game projects are organized today! There's a lot of history and it's tremendously fun to explore.
Finally, WingNuts are a passionate group of people that are always happy to welcome others into our ranks. Formal Wing Commander news is (well, was) few and far between and so we find pretty entertaining ways to fill our time and stick together. We avoid gatekeeping and do not judge newcomers for not knowing the culture or the IP. Even if you don't know the difference between a Dralthi and a Drakhri, there's a place for you. And if you do know the difference between a Dralthi and a Drakhri then it's time to make a colonoscopy appointment.
How can I learn more about this project?
We are reaching out for more information and keeping close track of social media. We will post live updates as soon as anything else, however minor, is revealed!
--
Original update published on October 12, 2026
On Saturday, October 11, Electronic Arts producer Jim Vessella hosted a panel at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo called "The Lost Tapes - Preserving the EA Vault and Restoring an FMV Classic". He revealed that he has located over 600 tapes stored by Electronic Arts which include the source video footage for Wing Commander III. This footage is being restored and will be included in a new release of the game, Wing Commander III 30th Anniversary Edition. We still have more questions than answers about the announcement but we thought it would be valuable to collect everything we do know in a new post. We've also included some of the major questions we're seeing even though answers are not yet available for many of them.
Social media users that were attending the panel have reported on the contents of the presentation and posted pictures showing some of Mr. Vessella's slide deck. One slide offers historical facts about Wing Commander III and the other lists features for the Wing Commander III 30th Anniversary Edition. Attendees report that the release will include the uncompressed original footage and a restored, upscaled version and that players can toggle between them. Some of this footage was shown to the panel and reactions online have been universally positive.
Is there a release date for Wing Commander III 30th Anniversary Edition?
No release date has been announced.
Why is it called the 30th Anniversary?
We do not know. The DOS original Wing Commander III released on December 8, 1994 which would mean that we are approaching its 32nd anniversary. The list of features does mention "Kilrathi Saga Integration." The Kilrathi Saga, mentioned in the presentation, was released on October 15, 1996, meaning that its 30th anniversary is just days away. It's also possible that they simply chose 30th because 32nd or 33rd (depending on whether this releases this year or next) is an unwieldy name.
We were particularly excited to spot a 30th Anniversary Edition logo on one of the slides which includes art of a spaceship! There's a special thrill to seeing new branding for Wing Commander after all these years.
What does "Kilrathi Saga Integration" mean?
This is also unclear. The Kilrathi Saga was a 1996 collection released by Origin which updated the first three Wing Commander games to play in Windows 95 rather than DOS. The most significant changes to the package were made to Wing Commander I and II but the Kilrathi Saga version of Wing Commander III does include updated music and throttle and rudder pedal support. The version currently available for purchase on GOG and the EA app is the DOS version; the Windows 95 version has only ever been available as a separate release in Japan.
What does "Community Enhancement Patch" mean?
The presentation noted that Electronic Arts has been working with members of the community. Since the feature list was revealed, several wingnuts have pointed out that both 60 FPS gameplay and controller support are features offered by Mash's Wing Commander III Enhancement Patch. We can't say if they have used or built on this patch specifically but it is a good look at the kinds of things that are possible with Wing Commander III!
Will this impact the versions of Wing Commander III found on GOG and the EA app?
This is also not clear. A release of the DOS version of Wing Commander III has been available through GOG since 2011 and via EA's endlessly-renamed and reworked service in 2014. We do not know what impact this game will have on those releases… but it's always a good idea to keep local copies of your GOG games as a backup!
This will be the first Wing Commander game released on Steam, which should provide much a wider audience for the series!
Will the panel be available to watch?
One of the attendees noted that Electronic Arts had professional videographers on hand to record the panel itself. It's not clear whether a video will be made available to the public or not, but it sounds like there was at least an intent to preserve everything.
Can the Wing Commander III video really improve much from the original release?
YES! Your memory plays some pretty big tricks on you. While you remember Wing Commander III as looking like a real movie, it's actually incredibly low quality compared to even something like pre-HD broadcast TV. The original FMV in Wing Commander III is 320x165 video running at 15 frames per second heavily compressed with a very early video format called Xanmovie.
Here is a comparison of the difference in resolution between the original Wing Commander III videos, the DVD release of Wing Commander IV and a standard 1080p BluRay movie. The original tape footage should be roughly twice the resolution of the DVD and the upscaled footage will likely be similar to the BluRay (or even higher!).
What was Wing Commander III shot on, anyway?
Wing Commander III was shot using Sony DVW-700 cameras. The raw 'green screen' footage for Wing Commander III was recorded on Digital Betacam tapes which had an NTSC resolution of 720x486. The edit masters were recorded to Sony D-1 tapes with the same resolution. The game's backgrounds and CG shots were also rendered at this resolution.
One point of confusion is that you may have seen posts about the Origin Museum having 35mm film footage from Wing Commander III. These reels were from a pre-production test shoot which was conducted to decide what the best technology to make the game would be. The 35mm scenes do not use the real actors (Chris Roberts appears as Blair!). Wing Commander IV WAS shot on 35mm film.
Who is Jim Vessella?
According to Mobygames, Jim Vessella has been a producer at Electronic Arts since at least 2004. He is credited with a number of high profile titles including the recent Star Wars Zero Company. He is best known as a friend to the retro gaming community because of his work making the 2020 Command & Conquer Remastered package happen. Members of the hardcore Command & Conquer community have kindly confirmed that this project is in good hands!
What does a video game producer do?
Game producers have a wide variety of responsibilities but most importantly they are the team members responsible for the forward movement that must happen to sustain any game development project. Producers manage an endless web of developers, schedules, resources and other logistics. Some producers are also known for their creative work while others focus on keeping things going behind the scenes.
I'm new to Wing Commander and the community! How can I get started?
WELCOME! The Wing Commander community today is a tightly knit group that has been together for some thirty years now… but that doesn't mean you aren't welcome! We always strive to be the kind of group that accepts new members regardless of their familiarity with our series. If you're interested in Wing Commander in any way then we'll happily get you started! In addition to this news site, we run a forum and a Discord for direct interaction. Come on down and we'll treat you like a friend!
Why might I want to be a Wing Commander fan?
First and foremost, Wing Commander is a lot of fun! It's an action arcade game on the surface but it's built on so many layers and taken in so many fascinating directions that across the main series there's something for everyone.
If you're interested in lore, we pack a LOT of it into a very manageable continuity: a dozen games, a handfull of novels, a season of an animated series and one very divisive movie. And Wing Commander nerds are always willing to talk about continuity!
We're also very passionate about preserving the history of the game which is a pretty important part of the video game story in general. Wing Commander helped define everything from how your computer talks to you to how giant AAA video game projects are organized today! There's a lot of history and it's tremendously fun to explore.
Finally, WingNuts are a passionate group of people that are always happy to welcome others into our ranks. Formal Wing Commander news is (well, was) few and far between and so we find pretty entertaining ways to fill our time and stick together. We avoid gatekeeping and do not judge newcomers for not knowing the culture or the IP. Even if you don't know the difference between a Dralthi and a Drakhri, there's a place for you. And if you do know the difference between a Dralthi and a Drakhri then it's time to make a colonoscopy appointment.
How can I learn more about this project?
We are reaching out for more information and keeping close track of social media. We will post live updates as soon as anything else, however minor, is revealed!
--
Original update published on October 12, 2026
