6 days Ago By Paul Thurrott
The game preservationists at have posted the original versions of and for free online. Even better, Epic Games, which owns these titles but no longer supports them, now says this was done with its explicit permission, so there are no legal concerns. “We can confirm that and are available on archive.
org and people are free to independently link to and play these versions,” an Epic Games statement explains, clearing up the confusion. Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday — get free copies of Paul Thurrott's Windows 11 and Windows 10 Field Guides (normally $9.99) as a special welcome gift! The OldUnreal team is a group of enthusiasts and volunteers who support older game titles with patches, mods, new multiplayer levels, and other downloads.
The two original games, and , are , but . Currently, only Windows is supported, but they are hoping to add Mac and Linux support soon as well. For those unfamiliar, (1998) and (1999) are first-person shooters that were as influential and groundbreaking in their day as anything Id Software or Valve produced.
was most notable for its stunning singe-player campaign, while took multiplayer gaming to new heights with a frenetic speed that’s still impressive today. (Well, that and the announcer yelling out “FIRST BLOOD,” “MULTI-KILL” and similar when deserved.) This news follows an announcement from GOG about its own , which it says will “ensure classic games remain playable on modern systems, even after their developers stopped supporting them” The company has provided new “preservation” versions of classic games like , , and almost 100 others that it certifies will work on modern PCs and ship with various improvements.
Paul Thurrott is an award-winning technology journalist and blogger with 30 years of industry experience and the author of 30 books. He is the owner of and the host of three tech podcasts: with Leo Laporte and Richard Campbell, , and with Brad Sams. He was formerly the senior technology analyst at Windows IT Pro and the creator of the SuperSite for Windows from 1999 to 2014 and the Major Domo of Thurrott.
com while at BWW Media Group from 2015 to 2023. You can reach Paul via , or . Join the crowd where the love of tech is real - become a Thurrott Premium Member today! Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday.
