GOG Preservation Program Updates Games To Make Them Playable Forever

GOG launched the GOG Preservation Program in an effort to preserve and ensure old games remain good to play on current, and future, PCs.

Games under the GOG Preservation Program will be maintained directly by GOG’s own development team rather than game’s own developer and publisher. The “Good Old Games” seal of approval, indicating the game is under the program, means that game will work forever, with updates specific to the GOG release of the PC game.

GOG is kicking off the GOG Preservation Program with 100 games (though 92 are listed on the page at the time of writing), which includes back catalogs from various publishers including Blizzard, Bethesda, EA, Ubisoft and Sega. Among the high-profile games that now has the Good Old Games stamp of approval includes Diablo, Fallout: New Vegas, System Shock 2, Heroes Of Might & Magic III and Alpha Protocol.

Alpha Protocol came out of nowhere with a new and improved PC release on GOG back in March, and now we know why.

It’s interesting to see GOG bringing back the Good Old Game phrase, GOG used to be an acronym. And the offer of future-proofed versions of old games with continuous support sounds like a good selling point to compete against other PC games distribution platforms like Steam (the defacto choice by almost all PC gamers today) and Epic Games Store (which offers weekly freebie games), on top of games bought from the platform being DRM-free.

The current state of games preservation is alarming, as more and more recent games being delisted with no way of legally acquiring them (almost all old racing games with licensed cars have suffered this fate) and some shut down completely due to server closure without an update to enable offline play for games single-player content (like The Crew).

Certified Good Old Game on GOG (as of launch of the GOG Preservation Program)

1. Akalabeth: World Of Doom
2. Alpha Protocol
3. Annarcum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obsura
4. Anno 1404: Gold Edition
5. Biing!: Sex, Intrigue and Scalpels
6. Bio Menace
7. Blade Runner
8. Blood Omen: Legacy Of Kain
9. Caesar 3
10. Carmageddon Max Pack
11. Constructor Classic 1997
12. Crusader: No Regret
13. Crusader: No Remorse
14. Curse: The Eye Of Iris
15. Demonicon
16. Descent
17. Diablo + Hellfire expansion
18. Dragon Age: Origins – Ultimate Edition
19. Dragonsphere
20. Dungeon Keeper 2
21. Dungeon Keeper Gold
22. Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard
23. Earthworm Jim
24. Empire Earth 2 Gold Edition
25. Empire Earth Gold Edition
26. Fallout
27. Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition
28. Fantasy General
29. FATE: Undiscovered Realms
30. Heroes Of Might And Magic
31. Heroes Of Might And Magic III: Complete
32. Heroes Of Might and Magic IV Complete
33. Hocus Pocus
34. I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream
35. Icewind Dale 2 Complete
36. Indiana Jones And The Fate Of Atlantis
37. Jagged Alliance
38. Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games
39. Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Collection
40. Jazz Jackrabbit Collection
41. Jill Of The Jungle: The Complete Trilogy
42. King Of Dragon Pass
43. Knights Of Honor
44. Legacy Of Kain: Defiance
45. Lego The Hobbit
46. Leisure Suit Larry: Love For Sail!
47. Mad Max
48. Middle-earth: Shadow Of Mordor Game Of The Year Edition
49. Might And Magic 6-pack Limited Edition
50. Myst Masterpiece Edition
51. Pirates! Gold Plus
52. Populous: The Beginning
53. Resident Evil
54. Resident Evil 2
55. Resident Evil 3
56. Resident Evil Bundle
57. Return To Mysterious Island 2
58. Riven (1997)
59. RollerCoaster Tycoon 2: Triple Thrill Pack
60. RollerCoaster Tycoon Deluxe
61. Sam & Max Hit The Road
62. Sensible World Of Soccer 96/97
63. Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri Planetary Pack
64. Sim City 2000 Special Edition
65. SimCity 3000 Unlimited
66. Star Control I & II
67. Starflight 1+2
68. Stargunner
69. SWAT 4: Gold Edition
70. System Shock 2
71. Tex Murphy: Mean Streets+ Martian Memorandum
72. The Cave
73. The Curse Of Monkey Island
74. The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
75. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY Edition
76. The Secret Of Monkey Island: Special Edition
77. The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings Enhanced Edition
78. The Witcher: Enhanced Edition
79. Theme Hospital
80. Theme Park
81. Tyrian 2000
82. Ultima 4: Quest Of The Avatar
83. Ultima 7 The Complete Edition
84. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
85. Warcraft I & II Bundle
86. Warcraft II Battle.net Edition
87. Warcraft: Orc And Humans
88. Wing Commander 3 Heart Of The Tiger
89. Wing Commander: Privateer
90. Worms United
91. X-Com: UFO Defense
92. Zeus + Poseidon (Acropolis)