GOG is old enough to drink in the UK. To celebrate that milestone, the DRM-free storefront — which lets players do what they want to games once they own them, including sending them to other PCs, backing them up to hard drives, and even burning them onto discs to add to a physical collection — has announced a range of surprises.
The company is currently on a mission to keep games available to play even after the seasons end and servers close down. Its GOG Patrons initiative has saved 300 old games, funding them to be made compatible with modern operating systems. Over 10,000 patrons have signed up to help. The latest game to benefit from this was Nox, the action RPG developed and published by Westwood Studios and EA back in 2000.
“We dig deep into the code, fixing long-lasting bugs, adjusting screen resolutions, adding controller support, missing cutscenes and much, much more,” said Marcin Paczynski, senior business development manager.
GOG has made over 1,700 fixes to old games in its preservation program. Next up, there’s good news for classic space sim and Mark Hamill fans.
The Wing Commander series — Wing Commander 1-4 games, Prophecy Gold, and Privateer 2 — is getting an anniversary edition update. GOG collaborated with modders for Prophecy, with a goal of making the game more approachable, adding controller support to offer a new way to play.
Each of these games comes with the legacy version and the touched up Anniversary Edition. For people who already own the original games on GOG, the Anniversary Editions are free to download at launch.
Ahead of those updated space sims, there’s something new on GOG right now: Road Rash. The violent motorbike racing classic got the same treatment as Wing Commander, making it compatible with modern systems and control inputs.
GOG also announced Retro Vibe, a publishing arm focused on “new games with a classic soul.” Retro Vibe releases include a VHS-fuzzed FPS with Max Payne-esque bullet time called Cop Bastard, a side-scrolling shooter with tough boss battles called The Looter, tactical cyberpunk RPG Shardpunk 2, boomer shooter with massive boomsticks Project Warlock: Lost Chapters, and the mysterious greyscale indie game After Hell Freezes Over.
You can Wishlist the full lineup of games and check them out in more detail on GOG.com. It’s a site GOG is hoping you’ll spend more time on anyway, as the service is also introducing GOG Social, a new gaming forum integrated with your game library, allowing you to tag games in posts, taking readers directly to the store page. The forum has marked spoilers, threaded replies, reactions, post edits, media support, bookmarks, topic subscriptions, and more.
Lastly, GOG Galaxy — GOG’s launcher that lets you combine your entire library from different stores into one space — is also coming to Linux. It’s landing with new customization and personalization options. Watch the entire showcase on the GOG YouTube channel.
Kirk McKeand is a Contributor on IGN News. Find him on Twitter @MckKirk
