Electronic Arts Launches 25 Classic PC Games on Steam for the First Time
Including titles like ‘Wing Commander’ and ‘Road Rash.’
Summary
Electronic Arts dropped 25 classic PC titles on Steam, GOG and the EA App
The massive release features seven fully restored Anniversary Editions for Road Rash and Wing Commander
The preservation effort utilized a newly discovered vault of physical media to rescue and reedit original master sequences
The video game industry faces a growing cultural crisis as classic titles increasingly risk being lost to time, trapped behind incompatible modern hardware, deprecating physical media and forgotten storage archives. Stepping up to combat this digital decay, Electronic Arts launched 25 classic PC games on Steam for the first time. The drop, which is also available on GOG and the EA App, serves as a crucial preservation milestone that rescues foundational gaming history from technological obsolescence.
The sprawling release was sparked by an internal archaeological find. Jim Vessella, a Senior Producer with the EA Partners team, was part of the group that initiated the dedicated game preservation effort at Electronic Arts. That initiative struck gold when the team discovered a physical media vault containing thousands of Betacam, VHS and D1 tapes alongside other assets. Through a meticulous digitization process, EA recovered master Full-Motion Video (FMV) sequences. Using these master tapes, the team reedited the archival footage to restore more than 1,500 scenes in higher resolution.
The crown jewels of this archival drop are seven newly restored Anniversary Editions encompassing the motorcycle racer Road Rash and six Wing Commander titles, all priced at $9.99 USD each. These specialized releases maintain the original look and feel of the games while packing in essential quality-of-life updates to improve overall performance and ensure support for modern systems and controls. The 35th Anniversary Editions bundle Wing Commander and Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi. The 30th Anniversary Editions bring back Road Rash, Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger, Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom, Wing Commander Prophecy and Privateer 2: The Darkening. In a nod to the dedicated fanbases that kept these universes alive, the updated Wing Commander titles officially incorporate community-made mods.
Beyond the flagship restorations, the remainder of the classic games cost $4.99 USF each. The extensive lineup delivers an 11-game dose of the Ultima franchise, spanning Ultima I through IX, including Ultima VII: The Complete Edition and Ultima VIII: Gold Edition, plus Ultima Underworld I and II. Rounding out the 25-game release are several other legacy heavy-hitters pulled directly from the archives, including Wing Commander: Privateer, Wing Commander: Academy, Wing Commander: Armada, Strike Commander, Theme Hospital, Crusader: No Remorse and Crusader: No Regret.
