Activision Heads to GOG.com with Classic Games Arcanum and Gabriel Knight

Activision and Good Old Games (GOG.com) announced a new partnership today that would bring Activision’s classic games, originally published by Sierra and later absorbed in the Activision-Blizzard merger, to the DRM-free digital download platform with two good old games at the fore.

First of the two releases is Troika’s Steampunk-themed RPG, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magic Obscura, originally published by Sierra and considered by many to be a cult classic for its original setting, artwork and writing.

The game was headed up by Fallout creators Leonard Boyarsky, Timothy Cain and Jason Anderson, and written by Edward R.G. Mortimer, the author of classic Pen and Paper RPGs like “Glory Hole Dwarven Mine”, whose description reads: “Brave the Deception, the Despair, and the Death Within the Glory Hole Mine, and Capture a Fortune in Precious Jewels!”



Arcanum was the first of Troika’s three games, the other two being Temple of Elemental Evil (Atari) and Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines (Activision). Despite bugs and numerous issues, the game was relatively well received by the RPG audience and garnered a metacritic score of 81.

Also released this week is the Sierra classic point and click RPG, Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers. Written and designed by the acclaimed Jane Jensen, Gabriel Knight puts players into the role of a writer investigating a series of ritualistic murders in New Orleans. The game features the voice acting talents of Tim Curry, Mark Hamill and Michael Dorn.



Both games are expected to carry a price tag of $5.99, updated with full support for Windows XP, Vista and 7.