Good Old Games is branching out with a new name, newer games and one hot-looking indie release.
Remember when Good Old Games tried to drum up publicity for its full launch by pretending it was going out of business? Boy, we sure learned something from that fiasco, didn’t we? So this time around, the guys are doing things a little more normally, which, while perhaps a bit “boring,” manages to get the word out without dragging weeks of rage and recriminations behind it – “the word” in this case being that the service is rebranding and dipping its toe into the waters of newer and indie games.
Good Old Games is now officially GOG.com, which is what most of us called it anyway, and starting today it will begin adding newer titles to its catalog of classic games. First on the list are the point-and-click adventure The Whispered World and the gorgeous platformer Trine, while Darwinia, Spacechem and the magnificent Machinarium Collector’s Edition are all “coming soon.”
Some of the new games will come in higher than GOG’s previously-top-tier $9.99 price – The Whispered World is $14.99 – but GOG said higher prices are necessary to support the addition of new games and insisted that its policy of flat, worldwide pricing would be maintained. And more games are on the way; GOG has signed deals for more than 20 “newer classics” from both major publishers and indies.
GOG is also getting into the indie game distribution business, starting with the upcoming Legend of Grimrock, which is now available for preorder. The old-school dungeon crawler is priced at $14.99 but can be preordered now for just $11.99 and, like other GOG games, will be entirely DRM-free.
Other changes at GOG include a revamped homepage, updates to the “community wishlist,” better download speeds and new features on the “My Account” page. And while it’s tricky to nail down GOG’s “newer” games remit, I suppose the same can be sold of the former “old” descriptor, too. At least we don’t have to wring our hands worrying about what’s going to happen to all our games, which is a plus; beyond that I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
