On November 5 GOG held its first GOG Showcase. At the event they announced that the platform would bring its launcher, GOG Galaxy, to Mac and Linux, that they would introduce a social networking feature on the platform, and that they would start publishing games alongside Retrovibe. But what many people would find more important is the announcement of the re-release of Anniversary Editions of seven classic EA games: six titles from the Wing Commander franchise and Road Rash.
EA bringing its past into the present
The two releases that have caused the biggest stir are Wing Commander 3, the most beloved title in the franchise and the one that would give rise to the extraordinary Star Citizen, and Road Rash, a motorcycle racing and action game that was extraordinarily popular in the 90s. But all of them have stood out because they’ve been recreated with high-resolution cinematic scenes after the original tapes used to film the games’ FMV scenes were found. This has made it possible to recreate the games in 4K, something impossible until now.
At the same time, another eighteen games are now available on Steam. Including classics like the entire Ultima franchise or Theme Hospital, these games were available on GOG and have been maintained over the years by the company, but they’re now also available on Valve’s store.
How long the Ultima franchise will remain in these stores is still unclear. Richard Garriot, creator of the franchise, announced last October that he will regain the rights to Ultima in 2027 and that he was in talks with EA about relaunching the games and developing new sequels. So it’s quite possible that this move is part of those talks with Garriot to bring the franchise up to date.
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