GOG has announced that Warcraft I and Warcraft II will be leaving the store on December 13.

This doesn't mean that those who have already bought the game will be unable to access it as GOG has pledged, as they do with all the games on the service, that it will remain updates to be compatible with modern systems via the preservation system. This comes a month after Blizzard released remastered versions of the two games during the Warcraft 30 Years live stream.

It's a great battle that GOG has taken on, with long-term viability of games and preservation of them being a difficult task, and its a shame that Blizzard is taking a stance against it by forcing players to move onto the "new" versions of their games now offered on Battle.net. It feels like we're moving old titles into that "games as a service" area like we saw with the shutdown of Overwatch when Overwatch 2 came out even though the second edition of the game is completely different and with the huge monetization change, it wasn't a game everyone wanted to migrate to.

Was it really doing any harm to keeping the originals up on GOG? Were many players on Battle.net even aware that they were available through GOG? I'd be willing to wager, no, no there was no harm being done and no, not many players knew about it. This is just pure spite of games preservation due to short-sighted profit-driven motives, and with Microsoft's big thing where they want to "meet players wherever they are", and their acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the move is especially confusing.

So if you're interested in playing the originals, without the extras that Blizzard added to the new releases, and you want to support games preservation, you've got under two weeks to pickup the old goodies via GOG. You can pickup the Warcraft I and II Bundle over on GOG. Don't forget to enter the discount code "MakeWarcraftLiveForever" at checkout to get a small discount of 2 USD, 2 EUR, 1.5 GBP, or 8 PLN off of the bundle purchase.

Quote From GOG

To the GOG Community and gamers all over the world:

We’re deeply saddened to share the news that Warcraft: Orcs and Humans and Warcraft II will leave our store on December 13th, 2024.

At GOG, we believe that games should live forever. This means not only preserving them but also making sure they remain accessible, updated, and enjoyable on modern systems—everything the GOG Preservation Program is built to ensure. Yet, despite our dedication and best efforts, there are times when not everything goes as we’d hoped.

Seeing these masterpieces leave our store is tough, but it also serves as another reminder of why our mission at GOG is so important. With that in mind, we’ve decided to update one aspect of the GOG Preservation Program’s policy:

Going forward, even if a game is no longer available for sale on GOG, as part of the GOG Preservation Program, it will continue to be maintained and updated by us, ensuring it remains compatible with modern and future systems.

We're incredibly proud of our work on both Warcraft: Orcs and Humans and Warcraft II, bringing them back to life after decades of unavailability and introducing several improvements to ensure the best possible experience, as close to the original as possible.

Although we’ll soon no longer be able to offer these games in our store, anyone who purchased them before they were removed will still enjoy the most compatible, high-quality versions, guaranteed by the GOG Preservation Program.

And because we’re DRM-free, you’ll have access to their Offline Installers, ensuring lifetime access to enjoy them whenever you like. This is what these titles—and you as gamers—deserve.

Warcraft I & II Bundle: https://bit.ly/Warcraft_Bundle

Thank you to everyone who stands with us in our mission to preserve video games. It’s not just about the games themselves; it’s about honoring our shared journey as gamers.

With appreciation, The GOG Team