GOG plans to preserve Warcraft 1 and 2 even though Blizzard is delisting them

GOG has vowed to continue supporting Warcraft 1 and Warcraft 2 after they’re delisted from its storefront this month.

In a blog post, GOG said Blizzard has requested that the classic games be pulled from sale on December 13, exactly one month after the developer announced and released “fully remastered versions” of the titles on its own Battle.net marketplace.

Both of the original Warcraft games are included in GOG’s recently launched Preservation Program, which is designed to ensure that classic games remain playable on modern systems forever.

And despite their upcoming delisting, GOG has said it will continue using its own resources to maintain their compatibility with modern PCs going forward.

“We’re incredibly proud of the work we’ve done on Warcraft I and Warcraft II, bringing them back to life after decades of unavailability,” GOG said. “Through our efforts, we’ve introduced several new features to both titles, including multiplayer support over LAN and enhanced graphical options like antialiasing and anisotropic filtering.”

In light of Blizzard’s plan to delist Warcraft 1 and 2 from GOG, it added: “We want to reveal a new feature to our recently announced Preservation Program. Once a game joins the Program, we pledge to maintain its compatibility even if it gets delisted from the store.

“This means that owners of those titles can still expect a seamless experience and tech support for those titles. This also considers potential changes in Windows OS that may impact games’ playability.”

Players who want to pick up the Warcraft I & II Bundle from GOG before its delisted can use the discount code MakeWarcraftLiveForever to knock $2 / £1.50 off its regular price of $14.99 / £11.89.

Blizzard released remastered versions of Warcraft 1 and 2, along with Warcraft 3 Reforged Patch 2.0, during a Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct stream in November.

Blizzard also said it will add player housing to World of Warcraft in its next expansion, Midnight. The expansion will be revealed next summer, when the recently announced Mists of Pandaria Classic will also be released.