Games included in the program will be DRM free, and GOG intends to keep them within the program forever. This means they would continue to receive updates over time, and continue to be supported by future hardware.
At launch the program currently has over 100 titles, with more games being added in the future. New games will not be limited to older titles, but will include modern releases as well. The goal of this program is to ensure as many games as possible are preserved, and not lost to the always changing market.
As explained by Arthur Dejardin via GOG's Official Announcement:
What can you expect from games in the GOG Preservation Program?
When you buy a game from the Program, you can
- Expect it to work on current and future popular PC configurations,
- Be sure that this version is the best and most complete available anywhere, including compatibility, manuals, and other bonus content, but also DLCs and even features that are missing in other editions,
- Access GOG’s Tech Support if you encounter technical issues with running the game,
GOG is the only platform to commit its own resources to make sure the games you buy remain playable.
- As with all titles in our catalog, always keep access to their offline installers, granting you the power to safeguard them how you want.
What games will you find in the Program?
We want all games no longer updated or maintained by their original publisher or developer to join the Preservation Program at some point. That’s true for relatively recent games and older games alike.What about macOS? What about older games that are not part of the program? Are they worse?We haven’t figured everything out, though we did our best to answer some of the questions you may have. Visit the GOG Preservation Program page to check out its FAQ.Why is GOG doing this?
Across my desk sits someone who describes his personality as a carbon copy of Squall’s from FF8. Another colleague told me he became a financial controller because he played so much Tropico as a kid. I love rainy days because they gave me the perfect excuse to play The Legend of Dragoon for the entire afternoon back in the day.
Games shaped us. Being able to play them is an essential part of reconnecting with ourselves. They must stay accessible, playable, and alive.
Unfortunately, the classic PC games market is in a sorry state. It’s too tiny for leading platforms to give it any attention. Classic releases often get the sell-it-and-forget-it treatment, and as time goes on and technology evolves, compatibility issues arise and remain unaddressed. Head to one of the massive platforms to buy a classic game and try to play it on your Windows 11 machine: You’ll stand disappointed.
We believe that maintaining these games as compatible and playable will allow you to keep our shared history alive, reconnect with yourself, and pass on your legacy.
Many of you care about GOG’s well-being. You may wonder if this move makes business sense. I’ll put it this way: The GOG Preservation Program represents a significant commitment of resources for GOG. However, we think we are uniquely positioned to deliver a superior experience with classics – for gamers and publishers – and gradually capture most of this market.
Why go for the classics market? What about DRM-free? What about new titles?
Our commitment to DRM-free is unchanged. We still strive to get as many DRM-free titles as possible on GOG, regardless of when they were first released.
DRM-free is a fantastic way to make games live forever. When you buy a DRM-free game on GOG, you can download and safeguard its offline installer any way you want. DRM-free keeps you out of the reach of platforms’ rules and policies and untethered to some central server suddenly switching off.
Our data shows that even though classic titles represent only 20% of our catalog and we haven’t called ourselves Good Old Games for 12 years, new users overwhelmingly come to GOG to buy classic games. Only after they experience the benefit of DRM-free do they enrich their purchase palette with more recent AA or brand-new AAA games.
We think we can significantly impact the classics industry by focusing our resources on it and creating superior products. If we wanted to spread the DRM-free gospel by focusing on getting new AAA games on GOG instead, we would make little progress with the same amount of effort and money (we’ve been trying various versions of that for the last 5 years).
That’s why focusing on creating the best editions of classic games will help more people quickly understand the benefits of DRM-free.
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