"We Believe That Games Should Live Forever" - GOG's New Preservation Program To Protect Delisted Games

Back in November, GOG announced its new preservation program where it revealed a list of games that it was committed to preserving well into the future, by continuing to offer new improvements and updates to keep them compatible with modern operating systems.

Well, it's been a month since then and the program is now facing its first major hurdle, with Activision Blizzard asking the company to pull Warcraft I & II — two of the games listed as part of its program — from its storefront on December 13th.

As a result, the company has posted a blog on its website stating that it will comply with the publisher's request, but that it will continue to support these two titles following their removal, for those who already own the game on the storefront (h/t: Game Developer!). This will apparently be part of a new feature related to the preservation program, with GOG making a pledge to consumers that if they own a game that is part of the program it will continue to receive updates even after it is no longer on sale.

The blog post starts with GOG making the statement "We believe that games should live forever" before detailing the request from the game's publisher. It then goes on to announce the new feature, with GOG announcing:

"Once a game joins the Program, we pledge to maintain its compatibility even if it gets delisted from the store. This means that owners of those titles can still expect a seamless experience and tech support for those titles. This also considers potential changes in Windows OS that may impact games' playability."

It also announced a discount code — "MakeWarcraftLiveForever" — for those who want to buy the game ahead of its delisting, which you can use to buy the Warcraft I & II bundle for a slightly reduced price.

In closing, GOG wrote the following about the "unfortunate" delisting:

"We are grateful for the opportunity to work with Blizzard on these titles. While the delisting is unfortunate, we assure you that every user who already owns these games on GOG will continue to benefit from our commitment and have access to versions that remain compatible with modern systems, preserving their experience for years to come.

"We're thankful to every Blizzard employee who contributed to these timeless games and for your ongoing partnership over the years. Game preservation is at the heart of what we do, and we hope to continue collaborating with Blizzard to keep these iconic titles accessible to future generations of gamers."

You can read the full blog here.