GOG.com
Four Electronic Arts games will soon disappear from the GOG.com online shop. The operators recently announced this in the official forums. Accordingly, it is Ultima Underworld 1, Ultima Underworld 2, Syndicate Plus and Syndicate Wars. They are all only available until June 28, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. German time. After this point, you can of course continue to play or download copies that have already been purchased. However, it will no longer be possible to buy them from GOG.com.A reason that led to this decision is not yet known. GOG.com only revealed that this step took place after the publisher's explicit request. A statement from Electronic Arts is currently pending, so there is plenty of room for speculation. EA may have other plans for the four games that the public is unaware of. The fact is that Syndicate Wars will no longer be available as a digital copy after June 28, 2021, as it is also not available on the in-house platform Origin.
But there is something good about the whole thing : In the remaining hours of availability, GOG.com drastically reduced prices for the four games - by 74 percent. So if you strike by tonight, you can get hold of them at a bargain price. Here is the overview:
Ultima Underworld 1 + 2 - 1.29 euros Syndicate Plus - 1.29 euros Syndicate Wars - 1.29 euros Source: GOG.com
Four PC classics delisted from GOG.com next week
© Image: Blue Sky Productions, Origin Systems/Electronic Arts Box art for Ultima Underworld 1+2, a 2011 re-release of the 1992 and 1993 games.Three 1990s games from Electronic Arts’ Origin Systems PC line will be delisted from GOG.com on Monday, June 28. The titles are Ultima Underworld 1+2, Syndicate Wars, and Syndicate Plus, the 1996 re-release that comprises the first Syndicate and its expansion.
All three are currently available for $1.49 each. Anyone who buys the games before their delisting will still find them in their GOG.com library of titles after they’re taken down. They may still re-download them, too. The removal takes effect at 9 a.m. EDT on June 28.
GOG.com noted in a forum post Thursday that it was pulling the games on request from the publisher. Polygon has reached out to an Electronic Arts representative for additional comment. All of the games involved, except for Syndicate Wars, are currently available through EA’s Origin storefront.
Syndicate, by Peter Molyneux’s Bullfrog Productions, launched in 1993, with an expansion pack released later that year. It was followed by Syndicate Wars in 1996. The isometric real-time strategy and tactics game was rebooted in 2012 as a first-person shooter.
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss and Ultima Underworld 2: Labyrinth of Worlds launched in 1992 and 1993, respectively. Richard Garriott directed and Warren Spector produced the first game; Spector produced and Paul Neurath directed the second. The two were packaged together for sale on GOG.com in 2011.