The best classic games are here: https://bit.ly/ENGOGCOMHope you're ready for some technical talk, as our Technical Producer Adim will walk you through the w...
They’ve done it forever, it’s been part of their initial concept for ages. Lots of the actual old games on there (as the name Good Old Games is derived from) are pre-patched to work on modern machines without setup, often also including community patches if there are any.
If you’re interested in a specific example, here’s an interview with their technical producer on how they updated and rereleased Alpha Protocol in 2024.
Before they even start on any technical work, the GOG legal team contacts the owners of the game they want to sell (e.g. SEGA, in the case of Alpha Protocol) and they negotiate a deal to update and distribute the game.
Things get complicated when a game has joint owners, or when it’s not clear who owns a game, but otherwise it’s as simple as that.
gog has a bunch of tweaks for the stuff they host. I’m guessing it’s either a clause in the contract for their storefront, or this is a volunteer for the game preservation program.
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Someone explain how gog is able to patch software that they don’t own?
They actually do quite a bit of legwork to track down current/original rights owners. In some instances they are even able to acquire original source.
They’ve done it forever, it’s been part of their initial concept for ages. Lots of the actual old games on there (as the name Good Old Games is derived from) are pre-patched to work on modern machines without setup, often also including community patches if there are any.
Yeah but how? Haha
If you’re interested in a specific example, here’s an interview with their technical producer on how they updated and rereleased Alpha Protocol in 2024.
Lots of insights!
Not technologically, legally.
Oh, well that’s the easier part to understand.
Before they even start on any technical work, the GOG legal team contacts the owners of the game they want to sell (e.g. SEGA, in the case of Alpha Protocol) and they negotiate a deal to update and distribute the game.
Things get complicated when a game has joint owners, or when it’s not clear who owns a game, but otherwise it’s as simple as that.
Is this something that you know, or just a best guess?
It’s as much as anyone outside of GOG can know, based on interviews like this one.
The exact contents of the deals is not public information and no doubt differs for each game, but the overall process has been reported on.
gog has a bunch of tweaks for the stuff they host. I’m guessing it’s either a clause in the contract for their storefront, or this is a volunteer for the game preservation program.
I know they do but always wondered how but that’s a good guess!