Monday, December 2nd 2024
GOG Preservation Program Proves Its Worth As 2 Warcraft Games Leave Storefront After 30 Years
GOG (Good Old Games) recently announced its Preservation Program, an initiative to support and maintain old and abandoned games to ensure that they still function on modern hardware. Today, with the announcement of the removal of Warcraft: Orcs and Humans and Warcraft II from the GOG Store in the coming weeks, the GOG Preservation Program both hits its first hiccup and proves why it's necessary. On X today, GOG announced that the two aforementioned Warcraft games will soon disappear from the GOG store, becoming officially unsupported and essentially becoming abandonware.
According to the post, both Warcraft II and Orcs and Humans will no longer be available from the GOG store as of December 13, 2024, however, GOG will continue to ensure that the game remains compatible with modern hardware as part of the GOG Preservation Program. Additionally, while they will no longer be purchasable on GOG, the offline installation files will still be available to download after the games are removed from the GOG store, meaning even if players lose their installation or backed-up game installers, they will be able to recover their game.
The full GOG statement reads:
Source:
GOG
According to the post, both Warcraft II and Orcs and Humans will no longer be available from the GOG store as of December 13, 2024, however, GOG will continue to ensure that the game remains compatible with modern hardware as part of the GOG Preservation Program. Additionally, while they will no longer be purchasable on GOG, the offline installation files will still be available to download after the games are removed from the GOG store, meaning even if players lose their installation or backed-up game installers, they will be able to recover their game.
To the GOG Community and gamers all over the world:Warcraft: Orcs and Humans was originally released in 1994, making 2024 the game's 30th anniversary. Meanwhile, Warcraft II isn't much newer, having been released in 1995, so it's not exactly the same situation as The Crew being shut down, making the game unplayable for existing owners after less than 10 years on the market. Still, for fans of the Warcraft franchise who either want to take the occasional stroll down memory lane or simply don't want to lose the potentially hundreds of hours they poured into the game, having the installation files available is likely a very valuable resource. Of course, GOG cannot make any promises that it won't disappear overnight, but the company is big enough that there will likely at least be signs of trouble before anything that drastic.
We're deeply saddened to share the news that Warcraft: Orcs and Humans and Warcraft II will leave our store on December 13th, 2024.
At GOG, we believe that games should live forever. This means not only preserving them but also making sure they remain accessible, updated, and enjoyable on modern systems—everything the GOG Preservation Program is built to ensure. Yet, despite our dedication and best efforts, there are times when not everything goes as we'd hoped.
Seeing these masterpieces leave our store is tough, but it also serves as another reminder of why our mission at GOG is so important. With that in mind, we've decided to update one aspect of the GOG Preservation Program's policy:
Going forward, even if a game is no longer available for sale on GOG, as part of the GOG Preservation Program, it will continue to be maintained and updated by us, ensuring it remains compatible with modern and future systems.
We're incredibly proud of our work on both Warcraft: Orcs and Humans and Warcraft II, bringing them back to life after decades of unavailability and introducing several improvements to ensure the best possible experience, as close to the original as possible.
Although we'll soon no longer be able to offer these games in our store, anyone who purchased them before they were removed will still enjoy the most compatible, high-quality versions, guaranteed by the GOG Preservation Program.
And because we're DRM-free, you'll have access to their Offline Installers, ensuring lifetime access to enjoy them whenever you like. This is what these titles—and you as gamers—deserve.
Thank you to everyone who stands with us in our mission to preserve video games. It's not just about the games themselves; it's about honoring our shared journey as gamers.
24 Comments on GOG Preservation Program Proves Its Worth As 2 Warcraft Games Leave Storefront After 30 Years
I think I have my WC2 copy somewhere, but thanks to my younger brother years ago the disc was so badly scratched all over I don't recall if it worked and if I even kept it. Same was said with the original WC game...so many lost games to the hands of an immature teenager that never asked my permission to use my PC games that I had boxed up and stored at the old folks house because I couldn't take everything to the dorms with me.
I digress. Maybe I should snag a copy of them before they vanish. I don't want any "remastered" trash looking versions from Blizzard.
Anyone still think that was a good deal?
Most likely not.
Same feeling and gameplay, with updated graphics.
Without that, you can safely rely on commerce to destroy it all, in due time. And we know at this point the remaster or renewed version of said software is barely, if ever, better than what we had. Its a strange world where development turns into a devolution, but that's literally where we're at now, ever since re-releasing old games is a business model.
I loved playing that game. Played through it a couple of times and still have my physical copy installed on my system.