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EA to release 25 classic PC games on major digital stores
Developing story first seen 2 hours ago
EA will release 25 classic PC games on Steam, GOG and the EA App, with seven receiving updated Anniversary Editions. The expanded release gives players access to series including Road Rash, Wing Commander, Ultima and Crusader, with changes intended to help the games run on modern systems.
EA says it recovered thousands of tapes and other assets from a physical media vault, allowing it to restore more than 1,500 full-motion video scenes. The updated Wing Commander games will also officially include some community-made mods. Anniversary Editions cost $9.99 each, while the other titles cost $4.99.
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In short
- EA is bringing 25 classic PC games to major digital stores.
- Seven Anniversary Editions add modern system and control support.
- Digitised tapes helped restore more than 1,500 game scenes.
How this story developed
- 2 hours ago Electronic Arts is bringing 25 classic PC games to Steam, GOG and the EA App, making older titles such as Road Rash, Wing Commander, Ultima and Crusader available to a new audience.
- 2 hours ago EA will release 25 classic PC games on Steam, GOG and the EA App, with seven receiving updated Anniversary Editions.
Full account
Electronic Arts is bringing 25 games from its back catalogue to PC digital stores, including titles from the Wing Commander and Ultima series, Theme Hospital and Road Rash. The releases are available through Steam, GOG and the EA App as part of a Restored Classic Sale.
Seven games have received what EA calls Anniversary Editions: Road Rash and six Wing Commander titles. EA says the editions are intended to retain the originals’ character while adding support for modern computers and controls and improving performance. The company says work on the releases followed the discovery of a physical media archive containing thousands of tapes and other materials. Digitising that material enabled EA to recover and re-edit master video sequences, restoring more than 1,500 scenes. The updated Wing Commander games also include selected community-made modifications.
The Anniversary Editions are priced at $9.99 each, while the other 18 games cost $4.99 each, according to one report. A second report says the titles are discounted by 50 per cent until 19 November, with Ultima and Wing Commander bundles discounted by 55 per cent. The line-up spans the early Ultima role-playing games through Ultima IX and Underworld, alongside several Wing Commander spin-offs, Crusader: No Remorse and Crusader: No Regret, and Strike Commander.
The reports frame the release somewhat differently. One focuses on EA’s restoration process, the recovered footage and the full list of games, while the other highlights the sale and community contributions, and notes that fans have often criticised EA for neglecting older titles. The latter also places the announcement amid criticism of the company over BioWare’s closure and concern for the Mass Effect series. The release may make a number of older games easier to run on current PCs, though the reports do not suggest that the move addresses those wider grievances.
Where outlets differ
From the full account, which is AI-written from the sources:
The first report gives individual prices of $9.99 for the seven Anniversary Editions and $4.99 for the remaining games. The second instead emphasises temporary discounts: 50 per cent off all titles until 19 November and 55 per cent off selected bundles.
The first report details the physical media archive, recovered video scenes and restoration aims. The second describes the seven releases as restoration projects and gives more attention to community mods and the sale.
The second report adds commentary about fan frustration with EA and current criticism related to BioWare and Mass Effect; the first does not address that context.
Explained simply
Electronic Arts, usually called EA, is a long-established video game publisher. Its older PC games include Road Rash, a motorbike racing series, Wing Commander, a science-fiction flight series, and Ultima, a fantasy role-playing series. Some were first released decades ago, when computers and software worked differently from today’s machines.
Older games can be hard to run on current computers, and their original materials may be difficult to find. Publishers sometimes update or reissue them so new players can access them through digital stores, while also preserving games for people who remember them. Community-made modifications, or “mods”, are changes created by players rather than the original publisher.
These releases bring EA’s back catalogue to major PC game stores, including Steam, GOG and the EA App. They also raise questions about how older games can be preserved and made compatible with modern systems, and how fan contributions fit into officially released versions.
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Originally published by The Verge as “EA is bringing 25 classic PC games to Steam”.