GOG’s preservation program is a commitment by the distribution service to ensure that classic PC games included in the program will run on your Windows machine no matter what. This doesn’t mean included games will receive any fancy overhauls or resolution boosts—quite the opposite. GOG’s pledge is to preserve the look and feel of the original experience, while ensuring the games boot without any intervention from you.
GOG launched the program just under a year ago, with 100 games such as Dungeon Keeper, Theme Hospital and Blade Runner receiving the badge of +1 compatibility. As of now, that number has increased to 250.
These additions coincide with GOG’s Autumn Sale, which’ll let you grab games from across the store on the cheap. The newly preserved Tomb Raider, for example, is 85% off at $3 (£2.29), which would be a great deal if it wasn’t even cheaper on Steam (though you do get GOG’s preservation promise on top, I suppose). Meanwhile, Splinter Cell is currently $2.50 (£1). That is cheaper than Steam at the moment.
There are also some decent deals on non-preserved games. Predictably, The Witcher games are all on deep discounts, with The Witcher 3 at 80% off for $8 (£5). Frankly, I’m amazed there’s anybody left to sell The Witcher 3 to. But perhaps there’s a newborn in your extended family you can gift it to for Christmas (and have the parents disown you when they see what Geralt and Yennefer get up to on that unicorn).
The best deal that I’ve seen, though, is a whopping 95% off XCOM 2. $3 (£1.79) is an absurd price for what is probably the best turn-based tactics game ever. The sale ends on November 5.
