Key Takeaways
- GOG is delisting Warcraft 1 and 2 on December 13.
- The move is possibly related to the fact that Blizzard just recently released Warcraft 1 and 2 remasters.
- While the originals will still be sold via Battle.net, those versions are widely seen as inferior to their GOG counterparts.
The first two Warcraft games are being delisted from GOG on December 13. While Blizzard will continue selling them directly, this turn of events is still bad news for Warcraft fans, not least because the GOG versions of these classics are widely seen as superior.
Blizzard’s iconic franchise started with Warcraft: Orcs and Humans in 1994, which was then followed up on by Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness a year later. Both of these classic Warcraft games have been available on GOG since March 2019.
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This era is now coming to an end, with GOG announcing that Warcraft: Orcs and Humans and Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness are going to be delisted from its storefront on December 13. Anyone who purchases them before that date will still be able to download and play them indefinitely. In a prepared statement, GOG said it’s “deeply saddened” about this turn of events. So, although the company did not provide a specific reason for the upcoming delistings, the wording of its announcement suggests that Blizzard may have revoked its license to sell the first two Warcraft games.
GOG Delistings of Warcraft 1 and 2 Are Likely Linked to Their Remasters
The timing of these delisting suggests they could be connected to the Warcraft 1 and 2 remasters that Blizzard shadow-dropped on November 13 during its stream commemorating the 30th anniversary of the franchise. One possibility is that the company was concerned about the originals cannibalizing the sales of the remasters. More realistically, it just didn’t want to continue offering them via a third party. After all, both Warcraft: Orcs and Humans and Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness can still be purchased on Battle.net, where they are being sold alongside their remasters.
December 13 will still be a sad day for Warcraft fans because the GOG versions of the classic games were widely seen as superior to their Battle.net counterparts. This is in no small part because GOG specifically optimized Warcraft 1 and 2 to run on modern hardware, offering support for high-resolution displays, LAN multiplayer, and various quality-of-life improvements. While some might consider the originals obsolete now that the remasters are out, their GOG delistings are nonetheless a blow to high-quality game preservation efforts.
GOG Shares Warcraft 1 & 2 Bundle Coupon Code
The silver lining here is that Warcraft 1 and 2 are part of GOG’s recently launched game preservation program, so the company will continue updating and supporting them, even though its future optimizations will only be available to those who purchase them before December 13. To that end, the CD Projekt-owned storefront has now shared a new coupon code, MakeWarcraftLiveForever, which can be applied during checkout to get a $2 / €1 / £1.5 discount on the Warcraft 1 & 2 Bundle so long as it’s still available for purchase on GOG.
Warcraft
Warcraft is a franchise originally created by Blizzard Entertainment starting with Warcraft: Orcs and Humans in 1994 for PC and Mac. The original trio of titles were real-time strategy games featuring factions like Humans, Orcs, Undead, and Night Elves though the popularity and success of the franchise soon saw it expand into an MMO with World of Warcraft, card battling game Hearthstone, and other media like books, comics, as well as a 2016 film adaptation that was directed by Duncan Jones.
