Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition Attracts Ire For Pushing Aside Popular Fan Restoration Project

thegamer.com:

Nightdive Studios recently attracted some ire from fans of the franchise after pushing aside a popular restoration project with Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition. The game was released on GOG and Steam earlier this week. The original came out on November 17, 1997.

Players for the moment are only able to access the fan restoration after having purchased the remaster. This newer version of the game was released to rocky reviews, prompting many people in the community to prefer the fan restoration.

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When asked about its rationale for only offering the fan restoration as an add-on to the remaster, GOG defended its decision, explaining to Eurogamer that “you receive two versions of the game, the new and the original one, for the same price as the original was sold before.” The company pointed out how "the now delisted original version is included with the purchase of Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition not as an add-on, but it shows up in your GOG library as a separate game and both versions will continue to be fully supported. This way GOG users can choose which version of the game they want to play.” Steam has not yet released a statement.

The fan restoration was created using an open source program known as ScummVM. The tool is described as a “program which allows you to run certain classic graphical adventure and roleplaying games, provided you already have their data files.” ScummVM has already been used to restore more than 250 games in total including numerous classics like The Secret of Monkey Island, Broken Sword, and Myst.

"Over a number of years, I along with friends lovingly reverse engineered Westwood's Blade Runner for ScummVM, reviving the game