Where Are the Addons? (August 27, 2011)

[Bandit LOAF]

There has been a great deal of confusion about the status of the addons for Wing Commander I, II and Privateer through GOG. The current releases are missing the five important mission disks, and other EA games (such as Alpha Centauri) are similarly lacking. Shortly after the recent release, an employee posted to their forums, implying that it was a rights issue:

Guys, it turns out that getting the rights for the expansions for the EA games is very, very, very complicated. While we are (of course) working on them, the rights clearance will not be resolved any time soon. In the mean time, though, two classic games that helped define the space shooter genre for $6 is nothing to sneeze at.

Unfortunately, this doesn't square with the message from Electronic Arts. I spoke with a source involved in the release who had no idea this was even a problem--he didn't know Righteous Fire wasn't available and expected the Wing Commander I and II addons would be included. My best guess is that GOG decided on their own that the mission disks don't fall under the terms of their contract and are nervous about doing anything that might hurt this unprecedented deal. Luckily, Bioware Mythic's Paul Barnett is on the case. He tweeted last night:

Having a conversation to see if I can find out why the add ons for the origin games are not out. Wish me luck!

And then:

Had a great chat with the GOG gods at PAX, we have a plan about the add ons for old origin games, hope it works out!

Good luck indeed! Let's get this thing fixed.

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Original update published on August 27, 2011

 

[Youngblood]

Best of luck to all partys involved.

 

[Farbourne]

It sounds like everyone is doing the right thing. It sounds like EA has no problem with releasing the addons, and maybe even wanted to, but wasn't super explicitly clear. GOG didn't want to chance anything legally, so they didn't release them.

I'm pretty familiar with legal issues and paperwork and release rights in my line of work, and you can't be too careful. I just hope they get the i's dotted and the t's crossed and we can play the addons soon.