GOG Patrons- Join gamers keeping classics alive • Hacker News Board

Re: GOG Patrons- Join gamers keeping classics alive

#21

Post by PetitPrince » Mon, Jan 05, 2026, 3:15 PM UTC

freedomben wrote: post #7

Emphasis added: > The GOG Preservation Program is our ongoing effort to save classic games from being lost to time. That means working to secure rights , fixing compatibility so they run hassle-free on modern systems, and even rebuilding missing features so the experience is the best you can get, while staying true to the original. It still baffles me how the "rights" to a game (or any IP) can be a thing when the com…

> Like take the Resident Evil example FTA: Launched in 1996, 2000-2023 not available (i.e. not for legal sale).

The Resident Evil IP is still alive and kicking though (with the latest installment trailered during the game awards a few weeks ago).

Re: GOG Patrons- Join gamers keeping classics alive

#22

Post by intexpress » Mon, Jan 05, 2026, 3:17 PM UTC

This patron thing seems weird. GOG should just accept preorders for games that aren’t available yet. And use that money to make the game available.

Re: GOG Patrons- Join gamers keeping classics alive

#23

Post by lostmsu » Mon, Jan 05, 2026, 3:23 PM UTC

I would sign up if they promise to release the games they get with the money into public domain.

Re: GOG Patrons- Join gamers keeping classics alive

#24

Post by rpdillon » Mon, Jan 05, 2026, 3:34 PM UTC

intexpress wrote: post #22

This patron thing seems weird. GOG should just accept preorders for games that aren’t available yet. And use that money to make the game available.

The problem with this is that the game might never become available. Taking pre-orders in the hope you can obtain IP is sketchy at best.

Re: GOG Patrons- Join gamers keeping classics alive

#25

Post by bo1024 » Mon, Jan 05, 2026, 3:36 PM UTC

lostmsu wrote: post #23

I would sign up if they promise to release the games they get with the money into public domain.

That would be cool, but they probably only get rights to sell the games, not full ownership of all rights.

Re: GOG Patrons- Join gamers keeping classics alive

#26

Post by danparsonson » Mon, Jan 05, 2026, 3:39 PM UTC

Y_Y wrote: post #2

A noble goal, but I'd be shocked if they manage to compete in the preservation realm against Good Old Piracy™.

Speaking personally I'd rather pay a few dollars than risk my PC getting Good Old Virusy, which may or may not be a real risk, but is certainly an idea that puts me off pirating software.

Re: GOG Patrons- Join gamers keeping classics alive

#27

Post by embedding-shape » Mon, Jan 05, 2026, 3:51 PM UTC

jon-wood wrote: post #17

So let me get this straight, GOG, a privately owned company, wants me to donate money to them so that they can buy the rights to games in order to sell them to me?

Simplified, but yes, more or less correct. I'm a patron of theirs, and see it more or less as a donation (obviously isn't, in the eyes of the tax agency).

Re: GOG Patrons- Join gamers keeping classics alive

#28

Post by 999900000999 » Mon, Jan 05, 2026, 3:52 PM UTC

jon-wood wrote: post #17

So let me get this straight, GOG, a privately owned company, wants me to donate money to them so that they can buy the rights to games in order to sell them to me?

Yeah my first reaction was, what the heck is is this ?

Now I can imagine having specific campaigns. Let's say they need $50,000 to release an upgraded port of Shining Force.

Cool, I might be open to pre-ordering it at $25 so they can see if there's enough interest to proceed. But why am I going to literally just donate to a private company. I think the entire world has gone mad, there's not even a real product here. It's not like for that $5 a month they give you a random game or something. They just want money.

Re: GOG Patrons- Join gamers keeping classics alive

#29

Post by Cthulhu_ » Mon, Jan 05, 2026, 3:53 PM UTC

freedomben wrote: post #7

Emphasis added: > The GOG Preservation Program is our ongoing effort to save classic games from being lost to time. That means working to secure rights , fixing compatibility so they run hassle-free on modern systems, and even rebuilding missing features so the experience is the best you can get, while staying true to the original. It still baffles me how the "rights" to a game (or any IP) can be a thing when the com…

Just because a company doesn't have their IP available for modern systems doesn't mean they abandoned the IP, see also all the remasters and remakes coming out today.

That said, my gut feeling says it's mainly about them not willing to invest in it, because they can't see the economic viability. If GoG were to go to the rights holders and say "Hey lad, we have a platform and a lot of experience in reviving older games, you'll get x% of revenue", I'm sure some would be like "ok".

Of course, I'm also sure these rights holders have received offers like that from various parties for a long time now.

Re: GOG Patrons- Join gamers keeping classics alive

#30

Post by Cthulhu_ » Mon, Jan 05, 2026, 3:55 PM UTC

jon-wood wrote: post #17

So let me get this straight, GOG, a privately owned company, wants me to donate money to them so that they can buy the rights to games in order to sell them to me?

That's what it looks like. I kind of get it, as there's no guarantee that a game they make available again will sell enough to cover the costs - it's as much a preservation effort as a commercial one.

For a lot of games it's just a matter of configuring dosbox and packaging it, I can't see how that would be very expensive. But for others it's a lot more involved.