Great news, everyone: GOG is going to make it easier than ever for me to not play anything that came out after the second George W. Bush administration. The company is launching a new GOG Preservation program, announced today, that promises to gather up over 100 games and keep them compatible from now until the end of time. Which could be a few years, the way things are going.
"We’re excited to launch the GOG Preservation Program," says GOG. "It’s a new initiative in which we commit our own resources to maintaining games’ compatibility with modern and future systems. Over 100 improved classics… will receive an official stamp starting November 13th, 3 PM CET." You can find the full list of games down below, and GOG says the list will expand as time goes by.
In other words, GOG is taking "a growing collection of hand-picked games" and running them through a barrage of tests to see if they work according to its own quality standards. "Every game in the program will receive ongoing updates and care from GOG, preserving the spirit of gaming for today’s players and generations to come." Plus, the ones brought up to snuff get a shiny silver "Good Old Game" badge.
What "up to snuff" means for GOG, though, is a bit vague. If you're expecting remasters-by-another-name—updates that add spiffy new resolution options or integrate fancy enhanced textures—it doesn't sound like you'll get them. Instead, GOG says it "aims to preserve the original game and make it playable on modern machines. This means being very careful with any modification that might alter the original experience."
That means no integrated community fixes and all the preservation work will be GOG's own, only impacting the game's functionality. A game that was 4:3 and looked fuzzy in 1996 will still be 4:3 and look fuzzy, it'll just run on your Windows 11 machine now. That's the pledge, anyway. If you want an example of the kind of work GOG is gonna do, it points to the recent revival of Alpha Protocol and the OG Resident Evil trilogy.
Which sounds good to me, to be honest. The problem with a lot of fan-fixes is that they sometimes tinker with things that don't need tinkering with. If GOG's program can give me a fuss-free way to access some of my favourite classics as they were back in the day? That's all I really want.
Here's the full list of games in the program on day one:
- Heroes of Might and Magic® 3: Complete
- The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition
- The Witcher: Enhanced Edition
- Dungeon Keeper™ 2
- Theme Hospital
- Diablo + Hellfire
- Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri™ Planetary Pack
- Heroes of Might and Magic® 4: Complete
- Icewind Dale 2 Complete
- Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
- Dungeon Keeper Gold™
- SWAT 4: Gold Edition
- Empire Earth Gold Edition
- Dragon Age™: Origins - Ultimate Edition
- System Shock™ 2
- RollerCoaster Tycoon® Deluxe
- Vampire®: The Masquerade - Bloodlines™
- RollerCoaster Tycoon® 2: Triple Thrill Pack
- SimCity™ 2000 Special Edition
- [PACK] Might and Magic® 6-pack Limited Edition
- Might and Magic 1 - Book I
- Might and Magic 2 - Gates to Another World
- Might and Magic 3 - Isles of Terra
- Might and Magic 4-5 - World of Xeen
- Might and Magic - Swords of Xeen
- Might and Magic 6 - The Mandate of Heaven
- The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY Edition
- Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition
- Ultima™ 7 The Complete Edition
- Anno 1404: Gold Edition
- Zeus + Poseidon (Acropolis)
- Caesar 3
- Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard
- Myst Masterpiece Edition
- Fallout
- SimCity™ 3000 Unlimited
- Indiana Jones® and the Fate of Atlantis
- Populous™: The Beginning
- Riven (1997)
- Empire Earth 2 Gold Edition
- Heroes of Might and Magic®
- The Secret of Monkey Island™: Special Edition
- Wing Commander™ 3 Heart of the Tiger™
- [Pack] Warcraft I & II Bundle
- Warcraft: Orcs and Humans
- Warcraft II Battle.net Edition
- Wing Commander ®: Privateer ™
- The Curse of Monkey Island™
- Sam & Max Hit the Road
- Blade Runner
- Theme Park
- Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail!
- I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream
- Legacy of Kain: Defiance
- [Pack] Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Collection
- Jazz Jackrabbit 2: The Secret Files
- Jazz Jackrabbit 2: The Christmas Chronicles
- King of Dragon Pass
- Tyrian 2000
- X-Com: UFO Defense
- Hocus Pocus
- Worms United
- The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
- Dragonsphere
- Earthworm Jim
- Constructor Classic 1997
- Sensible World of Soccer 96/97
- Jill of the Jungle: The Complete Trilogy
- Descent
- [Pack] Star Control I & II
- Star Control
- Star Control 2
- [Pack] Starflight™ 1+2
- Starflight 1
- Starflight 2
- Ultima™ 4: Quest of the Avatar
- Fantasy General
- Biing!: Sex, Intrigue and Scalpels
- Carmageddon Max Pack
- [PACK] Tex Murphy: Mean Streets + Martian Memorandum
- Tex Murphy 1 - Mean Streets
- Tex Murphy 2 - Martian Memorandum
- Stargunner
- Bio Menace
- Akalabeth: World of Doom
- Crusader: No Regret™
- Crusader: No Remorse™
- Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games
- Jazz Jackrabbit Collection
- [PACK] Pirates! Gold Plus
- Pirates!
- Pirates! GOLD
- Jagged Alliance
- FATE: Undiscovered Realms
- Demonicon
- Middle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™ Game of the Year Edition
- The Cave
- LEGO® The Hobbit™
- [PACK] Resident Evil Bundle
- Resident Evil
- Resident Evil 2
- Resident Evil 3
- Alpha Protocol
- Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
- Curse: The Eye of Isis
- Return to Mysterious Island 2
- Knights of Honor
- Mad Max
