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GOG brings back “big box” PC games, one printable template at a time
GOG, the DRM-free PC gaming platform, has launched a "Printable Big Box" collection allowing customers to download 3D models and printable, foldable templates that recreate the elaborate physical packaging PC games once shipped in before digital distribution took over. The initiative extends GOG's existing Preservation Program into physical packaging, framing the move as an effort to preserve gaming history at a time when Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are all scaling back physical and disc-based releases in favour of digital-only formats.
The collection currently covers five titles: Armikrog, Descent, Hitman: Codename 47, Myst and Star Trek: 25th Anniversary, with owners able to download a ZIP file containing an animated 3D box model in GLB format alongside a flat printable template in PDF, SVG and Adobe Illustrator formats for papercraft assembly. The scans come via a partnership with Benjamin Wimmer's Big Box Collection, an archive that has amassed over 1,000 3D scans of physical PC game boxes since 2015. GOG says the project reflects its broader philosophy that DRM-free software preservation should extend to the packaging these games once came in, since physical boxes are easily lost or damaged in a way digital files are not.
In short
- GOG now offers printable, 3D "big box" templates for five classic PC games
- Scans come from Benjamin Wimmer's 1,000-plus item Big Box Collection archive
- Move comes as Sony, Xbox and Nintendo scale back physical game releases
Explained simply
PC games were once sold in large cardboard boxes, which often included artwork, manuals and other printed material alongside the discs. As games moved to digital shops and smaller cases, these boxes became less common and surviving examples can be lost or damaged.
GOG is a shop for PC games that can be played without online copy protection. Its Preservation Program aims to keep older games available, and the new packaging archive draws on scans collected by Benjamin Wimmer’s Big Box Collection, which has catalogued more than 1,000 game boxes since 2015.
Preserving packaging matters because it records how games were designed and sold, as well as how they were played. The project also comes as major console makers are reducing some physical releases, making digital access and archives more significant to the history of games.