It has been about 70 years since the advent of video games, and their preservation has become more important than ever. The GOG store, owned by CD Projekt Red, is engaged in restoring old projects, adapting them to modern devices.
But, as representatives of the company admitted, it turned out to be much more difficult than they expected.
In an interview with The Game Business, GOG Development Manager Marcin Paciński said that over time, games "break" faster than expected:
"It's not just that the game doesn't start. Often it does not support modern controllers, widescreen displays, or even banal functions like minimizing the window."
But technical problems are not the only obstacle. Finding the rights holders of old games can be almost impossible. Once, GOG had to hire a private detective to find a man from the UK who did not know that he had inherited the rights to several projects. When he was found, he willingly agreed to help preserve the "family legacy".
Paciński noted that it is especially difficult to bypass old DRM protections. Some well-known games today cannot be launched without third-party patches. He suggested that major publishers remove DRM a few years after release - but added that "top managers are unlikely to ever agree".
