Good Old Games (GOG.com) has launched what it calls the GOG Preservation Program, allowing you to keep playing “up to date” PC games even when the developers have stopped supporting them.
GOG has placed 100 games in the program, including hits like the original Diablo and the Hellfire expansion, the first three Resident Evil games, Wing Commander III, Ultima VII, the original Fallout, and many more. They’re labeled as “Good Old Games” on GOG’s store page.
GOG is attempting to solve what will inevitably become a growing problem: As more and more games are lost to history, developers and the PC industry move on. Code incompatibilities prevent older games from being used with the latest operating systems, and the small, niche market of fans face the specter of those games fading away entirely.
GOG’s Preservation Program won’t add new features, but the company is trying to ensure the games at least run. “The GOG Preservation Program ensures classic games remain playable on modern systems, even after their developers stopped supporting them,” the company said Wednesday. “By maintaining these iconic titles, GOG helps you protect and relive the memories that shaped you, DRM-free and with dedicated tech support.”
GOG’s Preservation Program basically formalizes efforts the company has been making for several years. For example, the page for Wing Commander III notes that the company “fixed an issue” with the German-language version as far back as 2016. It added cloud saves in 2019, and verified that the game would work with Windows 10 and Windows 11 as of today, November 13. GOG also adjusted the DOSBox emulator configuration to ensure that the game would run at enhanced performance on modern systems. It made similar changes to SimCity 2000, another game in the program. Other games that have been ported to the PC, such as Resident Evil, appear to have more detailed tweaks to ensure that the original console experience is preserved on the PC.
GOG isn’t saying if its preservation efforts will stop here, or if it will continue supporting more and more games in the future. Even so, committing to the games we grew up with and loved is worth applause.
Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor, PCWorld
Mark has written for PCWorld for the last decade, with 30 years of experience covering technology. He has authored over 3,500 articles for PCWorld alone, covering PC microprocessors, peripherals, and Microsoft Windows, among other topics. Mark has written for publications including PC Magazine, Byte, eWEEK, Popular Science and Electronic Buyers' News, where he shared a Jesse H. Neal Award for breaking news. He recently handed over a collection of several dozen Thunderbolt docks and USB-C hubs because his office simply has no more room.