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Through the years, as GOG evolved, we explored many directions, and developed in ways that supported the needs presented by them. As mentioned in the first 2022 update, one of the things we’d like to do this year is to come back to our classic games roots, with the knowledge and experience that we gained during GOG’s existence.

Originally, GOG stood for Good Old Games. The idea for the company was born from the wish to play older games in a legal and easy-to-use way. As the classic games hold a special place in our heart, we’d like to devote more attention to highlighting them. It means that our goal is for GOG to become, once again, the best place for the classic PC games.

Our job isn’t to simply release the games that are already on the market. It’s to make them available to everyone - that oftentimes means fixing them, and making sure that they will run on the modern systems that you have. So far we achieved that by our internal work, and various cooperations with DOSBox or ScummVM, among others. Did you know there are a few titles on GOG that the DOSBox crew prepared special, dedicated versions of their great software? Our efforts to bring back some of the beloved games go beyond technical fixes.



In some cases, we also have to solve various legal contrivances to be able to release the games, as some of the rights and ownerships have been lost to time. Some of the titles that can be enjoyed thanks to these efforts are: Diablo + Hellfire, Theme Hospital, Dungeon Keeper Gold™, Deus Ex™ GOTY Edition, System Shock: Enhanced Edition, and of course the main star of today - The Wheel of Time, to which we added modern OS compatibility and hi-res support.

To help those classic games shine again, and get discovered by more people, we also do our best to support our releases with initiatives like Throwback Thursday, interviews with developers and other ways to look behind the scenes. If you like to collect the extra goodies connected to the games, such as guidebooks, wallpapers, concept arts and much more, there is a good chance that some of the ones you’ve gotten on GOG are thanks to our cooperation with The Video Game History Foundation.

But you know most of this already – so what’s next?! The newest development in the area of classics’ visibility and discoverability is the revival of Good Old Games concept. We’re starting with adding the “Good Old Game” tag, which will showcase over 500 games that our Team has deemed iconic classics – games that are older than 10 years and are critically acclaimed, stand the test of time, defined certain mechanics, or simply created new genres. You’ll find there games like Bioshock, Baldur’s Gate, Fallout or Gothic. Of course, this is in part our subjective choice, but we hope to inspire you to check them out for yourselves, have fun with them, and see if you agree with our assessment.



Why did we decide to pivot in this direction? Because we believe that celebrating and preserving classic games is important. They have the power to connect generations. They have the power to evoke nostalgia. They have the power to teach us about what came before and shaped the games we enjoy today. And they deserve to be remembered, and available for everyone to enjoy.

This is just another step to give Good Old Games a well-deserved spot on GOG. The invitation is here and it’s waiting for you! Rediscover with us the games that have been universally loved or search for hidden gems that didn’t get their time in the spotlight. Whatever you choose, we commit to bringing you the best classics experience out there: playable offline, compatible with new OSs, packed with additional digital goodies, and with the ability to back up anywhere at any time to ensure that the games we offer are playable for years to come.
Then i hope the games that were removed from the catalog come back then, such as the both No One Lives Forever games. And then also with offline installers, as was intended when good old games started. And offcourse the original and not a remake done by an other dev, such as beamdog.
I would then like to see the original Age of Empires from Ensemble Studios, with Rise of Rome. And then also Age of Empires II with The Conquerors.
Rise of Nations and Rise of Legends from Big Huge games comes then to mind as well.
I would also like to see some DOS titles, such as Testdrive II, Outrun and Airborne Ranger.
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JakobFel: All of that sounds great to me! I love both old and new games so as long as you guys don't abandon the new games, I'm more than happy to see a renewed focus on bringing lost classics to the market!

*cough* SHANNARA *cough*
Would love to see this on GOG! ( :
I read so many posts here, complaining about, or arguing over, the usage of the terms "good", "old", and "classic".

Guys,...when it comes to games, books and movies, everyone defines these terms differently for themselves, based on their own age, preferences, and experiences.

How about we simply agree (as the lowest common denominator) that the terms "good", "old", and "classic" are absolutely subjective.

And whenever it comes to subjective things, it really doesn't pay off, to argue.
Just wondering how is this done?

"In some cases, we also have to solve various legal contrivances to be able to release the games, as some of the rights and ownerships have been lost to time. "
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kustridaren: "In some cases, we also have to solve various legal contrivances to be able to release the games, as some of the rights and ownerships have been lost to time. "

Just wondering how is this done?
By digging deep into files. Letting the phone lines glow and ask people who know other people, who once worked with yet other people, etc.,..
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Dave3d: Lots and lots and lots of good ideas from users here.
Here is another: Make a tag for truly drm free games, a tag for Galaxy only games, and a tag for DRM'ed games.
Truly, going after old classics is great to hear, and I dont think they have to be OLD to be great, but DRM free and working on old OS'es (xp, win7, 8.1) and New OS'es (10, 11) would be wise also. You cant just cut out XP or Win7 because MS doesnt support them anymore. Most users have those OS'es on an old computer, not hooked to internet anyway, and taking away our choice to MAKE us use win 10 and up is not a good decision for drm free gaming.
yeah i think the same that games don't necessarily have to be old to be great

and folks can argue until the cows come home as to what constitutes "old"

also if i searched for 'good' or 'great' games based on their rating again using Neverwinter Nights 1 as example that wouldn't even show up with a current rating of 3.2/5 due to downrating of re-release while original is critically acclaimed and has large fan base

make more sense to be able to search including oldest/specific OS CPU and graphics/library requirements
It’s so refreshing to see a commitment to the classic roots again. It is what drew me to you to begin with.

Personally I’d love for you guys to get ahold of
- Skynet
- Orion Burger (again)
- Daedalus Encounter
- Hunter Hunted
- Battle Arena Toshinden
- No One Lives Forever
Post edited April 09, 2022 by wil.bowen
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Dave3d: Lots and lots and lots of good ideas from users here.
Here is another: Make a tag for truly drm free games, a tag for Galaxy only games, and a tag for DRM'ed games.
Truly, going after old classics is great to hear, and I dont think they have to be OLD to be great, but DRM free and working on old OS'es (xp, win7, 8.1) and New OS'es (10, 11) would be wise also. You cant just cut out XP or Win7 because MS doesnt support them anymore. Most users have those OS'es on an old computer, not hooked to internet anyway, and taking away our choice to MAKE us use win 10 and up is not a good decision for drm free gaming.
"Most users have those OS'es on an old computer" source for that? I'm pretty sure that isn't the case for me. Oldest Windows machine I used to have until recently was a Windows 8 laptop, and even that one I wiped to install Linux Mint. I don't think keeping around ancient and insecure computers is a common practice.

Demanding support for an outdated and insecure OS is completely unreasonable. GOG's MO isn't just releasing old games, but releasing old games in a manner made to work on modern systems.

If you're that insistent about not going to Win 10/11, you're probably better off just switching to Linux at this point. You're going to encounter many inconveniences regardless of whether you use modern Linux or ancient Windows, but at least Linux would be more secure and have better support for modern games.
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How many "good old games" are left that can realistically end up on GOG? A few.

GOG is going to spend hard money making sure the ones they have continue to work? Great, but please do it after you restore customer support to a state that's acceptable.

Which leaves the new game tags. HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY. New tags. Whoopty effing doo.


If that's the future then the reality is a continuation of the slow, steady decline we've been seeing for several years now. Put that in your pipes and smoke it, fanbois and fangoils.
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GOG.com: ...
This has been suggested in the past, and there are probably numerous legal issues (and it goes against the "back up your games on your own computer" philosophy) and might not be worth the trouble, but I wonder if there's money to be made letting people back up files they want to to their GOG accounts for a (reasonable) monthly fee (perhaps fee decreased or even waived depending on how many games you've bought). May not be worth it with Dropbox and Google and probably others already entrenched in the market, but I like to toss ideas (whether new or previously suggested) into the ring.

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Dave3d: Here is another: Make a tag for truly drm free games, a tag for Galaxy only games, and a tag for DRM'ed games.
Truly, going after old classics is great to hear, and I dont think they have to be OLD to be great, but DRM free and working on old OS'es (xp, win7, 8.1) and New OS'es (10, 11) would be wise also. You cant just cut out XP or Win7 because MS doesnt support them anymore. Most users have those OS'es on an old computer, not hooked to internet anyway, and taking away our choice to MAKE us use win 10 and up is not a good decision for drm free gaming.
I don't necessarily agree with the tags you said, but I do think there should be tags for more details about the multiplayer: LAN, local co-op, DRM-free online, Galaxy online, whatever else.

For old games GOG has always been focused on making sure the old games run on modern computers. If the games happen to still run on old computers even after GOG tweaks and fixes things, that's great, but I disagree that they should spend time and money ensuring the games run on old computers.

(I'm guessing we'll just have to agree to disagree, probably won't change each others' minds)
Post edited April 09, 2022 by tfishell
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tfishell: For old games GOG has always been focused on making sure the old games run on modern computers. If the games happen to still run on old computers even after GOG tweaks and fixes things, that's great, but I disagree that they should spend time and money ensuring the games run on old computers.

(I'm guessing we'll just have to agree to disagree, probably won't change each others' minds)
All of this debate would have a simple solution: If GOG patches the game in some way, the final release of the original should also be available as a bonus goodie.
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tfishell: For old games GOG has always been focused on making sure the old games run on modern computers. If the games happen to still run on old computers even after GOG tweaks and fixes things, that's great, but I disagree that they should spend time and money ensuring the games run on old computers.

(I'm guessing we'll just have to agree to disagree, probably won't change each others' minds)
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Cavalary: All of this debate would have a simple solution: If GOG patches the game in some way, the final release of the original should also be available as a bonus goodie.
I wouldn't have a problem with that but I'm guessing GOG doesn't want to eat up Support resources with confused people.
Maybe if there's a way to make sure people get it into their heads that GOG doesn't support the original games.

a separate section of GOG selling cheap ISOs of the original games would theoretically be nice (again with a few big fat notices that users are on their own getting the games to run, even notices in the account), but presumably there'd be expensive legal issues for little payoff.
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Cavalary: All of this debate would have a simple solution: If GOG patches the game in some way, the final release of the original should also be available as a bonus goodie.
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tfishell: I wouldn't have a problem with that but I'm guessing GOG doesn't want to eat up Support resources with confused people.
Maybe if there's a way to make sure people get it into their heads that GOG doesn't support the original games.

a separate section of GOG selling cheap ISOs of the original games would theoretically be nice (again with a few big fat notices that users are on their own getting the games to run, even notices in the account), but presumably there'd be expensive legal issues for little payoff.
Right. The legal and support issues that would emanate from this would be far larger than the sales you would get from the handful of people still running Windows XP (for some reason).
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The future of GOG? Right here...

gog.com/game/kung_fu_grand_king
As someone who was around for the original launch of GoG and was against the primary focus shifting to DRM free games, I'm glad to see this