Electronic Arts has opened the cupboard. EA says 25 of its older games went on sale on November 5, available on Steam for the first time, alongside GOG and the EA app. Seven of them are restored Anniversary Editions. The other 18 are what EA calls faithful ports.
The seven are Road Rash: 30th Anniversary Edition, Wing Commander and Wing Commander II as 35th Anniversary Editions, and Wing Commander III, Wing Commander IV, Wing Commander Prophecy and Privateer 2: The Darkening as 30th Anniversary Editions. The wider list runs from Ultima I through Ultima IX, both Ultima Underworld games, the two Crusader games, Strike Commander, Theme Hospital, and Wing Commander: Privateer, Academy and Armada.
One catch for GOG regulars: PC Gamer points out that the only new arrivals on that store are the remasters, because GOG already carried the other classics. Steam is where the full catalogue is new.
What the Anniversary Editions add
The story starts with a storeroom. EA says Senior Producer Jim Vessella found a physical media vault at its Redwood Shores campus in March 2022, holding almost 20,000 archival assets, including master tapes for Wing Commander and Road Rash. The team went on to preserve an estimated 2,500 hours of footage. PC Gamer quotes EA saying the digitisation recovered "supposedly lost" master FMV sequences, and that they were re-edited to restore "over 1,500 cinematic scenes" across these games.
The upgrades differ by game. EA says Wing Commander III and IV get restored full-motion video, optional upscaled versions of it, and the community-built Enhancement Patch, which brings 60 FPS gameplay, better controller and joystick support and widescreen cockpit configuration. Wing Commander and Wing Commander II bundle the Kilrathi Saga versions, which EA says are digital releases for the first time, along with community patches called Wcdx and WCAT. For Privateer 2, EA says the tapes turned up in 2024, and that the game's original cinematics director has made an alternate Director's Cut of the scenes.
Road Rash is the one non-space entry among the seven. EA calls this the first digital release of the 1996 PC version, and it comes with a relicensed soundtrack featuring Soundgarden, Paw, Hammerbox, Monster Magnet, Swervedriver and Therapy?. EA lists frame rates up to 60 FPS, native controller support, windowed mode and cloud saves. Video Games Chronicle reports that the restored games build popular community mods into the official releases, and EA's own list of patches backs that up.
There's also an unexpected credit on Prophecy. GOG says that game had hit technical roadblocks, so its engineers offered to take a look, and it lists Wing Commander Prophecy as a restoration it led.
Who pays what
Video Games Chronicle reports the games are 50% off until November 19, with Ultima and Wing Commander bundles at 55% off. EA confirms special pricing on Steam and GOG from November 5 to 19.
If you already own these on a digital store, check your library before you buy. EA says anyone who previously owned a digital copy of the Wing Commander games on GOG or the EA app gets the Anniversary Edition upgrade at no cost on that platform. EA words that offer around the Wing Commander games and doesn't mention Road Rash. GOG says each Anniversary release includes both the updated version and the original Legacy build, and that the Legacy version will no longer be sold on its own.
EA's post names no further restorations, so anyone hoping the vault holds more will have to wait and see.
Ollie's take: The nice part of this story isn't the upscaled video, it's that EA's own post gives so much of the credit to the fans who kept these games alive with patches. A room of tapes is only an archive until someone decides it matters. For Wing Commander, it seems the community decided that a long time ago, and EA has finally caught up.
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