GOG have announced that Warcraft I and Warcraft II are going to be leaving GOG "at the publisher's request" (Blizzard).
They're set to leave GOG on December 13th, although if you have a copy you'll still be able to download it afterwards. If you want to pick them up, GOG have given a special discount code "MakeWarcraftLiveForever" but that only applies to the bundle of them together. GOG say it will knock "2 USD, 2 EUR, 1.5 GBP or 8 PLN" off the price.
Additionally, GOG announced a promise for their recently announced Preservation Program as they said "Once a game joins the Program, we pledge to maintain its compatibility even if it gets delisted from the store.". Nice to see for people who do buy it up before it vanishes.
Why are Blizzard doing this now? They recently released Warcraft I: Remastered and Warcraft II: Remastered, although they're only available on Battlenet.
Was waiting for a heavy discount but looks like I'll just have to get them with £1.50 off
Let's hope they do it right this time. It won't (and can't) be worse than EGS that is for sure.
Quoting: ShabbyXSomeone should write an open-source engine for warcraft 1 and 2!Funny you said that because ElamanOpiskelija just mentioned about a C&D by Blizzard to an open source Warcraft project.
Last edited by ToddL on 2 December 2024 at 5:36 pm UTC
Quoting: The ArticleWhy are Blizzard doing this now? They recently released Warcraft I: Remastered and Warcraft II: Remastered, although they're only available on Battlenet.
It's Diablo II: Resurrected all over again!
In exchange for minor quality-of-life improvements and questionable changes to the artistic style of the graphics, Blizzard has imposed an online connection check in order to launch the games -- even for those that only want to play the single player campaigns.
On top of that, the multiplayer mode has been removed from Warcraft 1, effectively crippling the game for fans of the original.
Quoting: Linux_RocksThe remasters on Battle.net come with the originals too.Like Diablo II: Resurrected, they built in the ability to swap between the original or remastered graphics. You still have to endure the online requirement and all the other changes. Not quite the same thing as having copies of the original game like GOG gives you (example: buy Neverwinter Nights Enhanced Edition and you get access to the Neverwinter Nights Diamond installer too).
That being said, like you, I am not really surprised. Over Blizzard's lifetime, I have watched Blizzard devolve into the greedy, anti-consumer corporation it's is now. I had hoped that Microsoft buying them might signal a change in direction to Blizzard's attitude, but no such luck. This is why I no longer buy Blizzard's games.
Last edited by Caldathras on 2 December 2024 at 6:35 pm UTC
Quoting: CaldathrasLike Diablo II: Resurrected, they built in the ability to swap between the original or remastered graphics.
This is always a nice feature to see, a few games did that too, and it's cool.
But yeah Blizzard is doing shit, doesn't change that.
Out of curiosity, I watched some videos of comparison between the original Warcraft I & II games and the remasters, and it's just awful AI upscale...
Last edited by Cyril on 2 December 2024 at 6:28 pm UTC
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