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(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)
Just weeks after thesurprise launch of remasters for Warcraft 1 and 2, it’s been confirmed that the originals are going to be delisted from GOG this month, but the storefront is committed to preserving them for those who buy the RTS classics before then.
Last month, digital game storefront GOG unveiledits Game Preservation Program– a new effort to build a collection of “classic games that GOG has improved, with a commitment of our own resources to ensure their compatibility with modern systems and make them as enjoyable to play as possible.” With promises of the games in the program being “the best and most complete” versions possible, complete with extra quality-of-life improvements and a commitment to making them work “on current and future popular PC configurations,” it’s a huge win for game preservation, but apparently it’s not totally perfect. Warcraft 1 and 2 are both part of this program, but they won’t be available for purchase from December 13.
In anew blog post, GOG describes this as “heartbreaking news,” and says, “even with our best efforts and dedication to game preservation, sometimes things don’t go as we’d hoped.”
Because of the offline drivers that come with GOG games, delisting them won’t make them inaccessible for anyone who’s already bought them. The storefront is even making them more affordable for anyone who’s yet to grab them, with a $2/£1.50 discount code (‘MakeWarcraftLiveForever’), which can be used once per user.
AsPC Gamer writes, the two RTS games are also available to buy from Battle.net, and it’s not clear if they’re also going to be delisted from there. Either way, they differ from the GOG versions, which offer some improvements including “small DOSBox tweaks to improve performance and compatibility” of Warcraft 1, for example. Needless to say, now’s the time to add them to your library if you haven’t already.
The same US Copyright Office decision that struck down a major game preservation effort also quietly reversed a historic DMCA win for accessibility advocates.
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