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Wing Commander: Prophecy is the fourth direct sequel in Chris Roberts' Wing Commander science fiction space combat simulator franchise of computer games. The game was released in 1997, produced by Origin Systems and distributed by Electronic Arts. Prophecy was clearly meant by its producers to segue into a new era of Wing Commander history, especially after the departure from Origin of the series creator Chris Roberts. However, such a future never materialized, especially when Electronic Arts closed Origin down in 2004.
The game features several innovations, like an all-new game engine (the VISION Engine), new spacecraft, characters and story elements. The events depicted in Prophecy are set over a decade after Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom and, rather than the Kilrathi, the player must deal with a new alien threat, an insectoid race codenamed Nephilim that has invaded the human galaxy through a wormhole. Also, Prophecy was the first main-line Wing Commander game in which the player did not take on the role of Christopher Blair, instead being introduced to a new player character, Lance Casey. Some of the characters and actors from previous games return in Prophecy, where they rub elbows with an entirely new cast of Confederation pilots and personnel.
A stand-alone expansion pack, Secret Operations, was released by Origin in 1998; most notably, it was released solely over the Internet and for no charge, though the large initial file challenged the dial-up connections of that day. Secret Operations was later released for sale in combination with Prophecy in the "Wing Commander: Prophecy - Gold" package. A Game Boy Advance port of Prophecy featuring also multiplayer was released in 2003. Also, recently a number of fan-made mods based on the game's engine has been developed and distributed.
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