GOG is gonna keep games like New Vegas running on modern systems by itself, using its own devs to keep oldies going 'for generations to come'
Great news, everyone: GOG is going to make it easier than ever for me to not play anything that came out after the second George W. Bush administration. The company is launching a new GOG Preservation program, announced today, that promises to gather up over 100 games and keep them compatible from now until the end of time. Which could be a few years, the way things are going.
«We’re excited to launch the GOG Preservation Program,» says GOG. «It’s a new initiative in which we commit our own resources to maintaining games’ compatibility with modern and future systems. Over 100 improved classics… will receive an official stamp starting November 13th, 3 PM CET.» You can find the full list of games down below, and GOG says the list will expand as time goes by.
In other words, GOG is taking «a growing collection of hand-picked games» and running them through a barrage of tests to see if they work according to its own quality standards. «Every game in the program will receive ongoing updates and care from GOG, preserving the spirit of gaming for today’s players and generations to come.» Plus, the ones brought up to snuff get a shiny silver «Good Old Game» badge.
What «up to snuff» means for GOG, though, is a bit vague. If you're expecting remasters-by-another-name—updates that add spiffy new resolution options or integrate fancy enhanced textures—it doesn't sound like you'll get them. Instead, GOG says it «aims to preserve the original game and make it playable on modern machines. This means being very careful with any modification that might alter the original experience.»
That means no integrated community fixes and all the preservation work will be GOG's own, only impacting the game's functionality. A game that was 4:3 and looked fuzzy in 1996 will still be 4:3 and look fuzzy, it'll just run on your Windows 11 machine now. That's the pledge, anyway. If you want an example of the kind of work GOG is gonna do, it points to the recent revival of Alpha Protocol and the OG
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