Blizzard is delisting Warcraft I and II from GOG, the only PC gaming storefront the real-time strategy classics were available on outside of the company’s own Battle.net launcher. The move comes after the recent launch of its own expensive and lackluster remasters of the two games, but GOG is using that now-standard business move to double-down on its game preservation efforts.
Last month, GOG (once short for Good Old Games), which is owned by Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 maker CD Projekt Red, announced a new preservation program in which it promised to maintain old PC games and continually modify them to run on current hardware for the foreseeable future. Early classics included the original PC versions of Resident Evil and Diablo. Warcraft I and II are also part of the DRM-free program, and despite being removed from the storefront later this month, GOG says it will still continue to make sure players’ existing copies are updated moving forward.
“Once a game joins the Program, we pledge to maintain its compatibility even if it gets delisted from the store,” a new announcement from the company reads. “This means that owners of those titles can still expect a seamless experience and tech support for those titles. This also considers potential changes in Windows OS that may impact games’ playability.”
Warcraft I and II will both be removed on December 13th “at the publisher’s request,” GOG notes, meaning that Blizzard, now owned by Microsoft, is requesting GOG stop selling the $15 bundle of ‘90s-era strategy games, presumably because it just released its own remasters for $25. It’s the latest example of companies making it harder for fans to buy the original, cheaper versions of important games.
These new versions have some quality-of-life improvements, like being to select more units at once, but they’ve also been accused of being quite ugly due to new black outlines and art that looks like it was AI-upscaled. And even though there’s a toggle to switch back to the classic graphics, the visuals look stretched and don’t properly compensate for the change in aspect ratio and display technology. It’s a huge bummer.
GOG is currently giving a $2 discount to anyone who buys the classic versions before they’re delisted. “We are grateful for the opportunity to work with Blizzard on these titles,” the company states. “While the delisting is unfortunate, we assure you that every user who already owns these games on GOG will continue to benefit from our commitment and have access to versions that remain compatible with modern systems, preserving their experience for years to come.”
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