GOG is a distributor of DRM-free PC games, including classics and now modern computer titles. But what about good old console games? It might be a complicated process for games from other platforms to come to GOG, but it sounds like it’s far more of a legal problem than a technical one.
“I think it might be possible at some point,” Marcin Paczynski, head of product at GOG, says in the latest NoClip documentary. He specifically cites the original PlayStation as one of the platforms he’d like to see ported to PC as part of the GOG library.
“However, from what we have been able to gather because we did the research, it might be very, very complicated.” That’s because of “how the rights are structured” – though Paczynski doesn’t go into detail here, that could have something to do with the licenses companies like Sony might have for games released on their platforms.
“I wouldn’t say that this is impossible and I would certainly love to have some of the console games on GOG. Because we would be able to make them work,” Paczynski says. He adds with a laugh “Maybe we’ve already tried.”
Presumably, any console titles released on GOG would make use of an emulator specifically tweaked toward that particular game’s requirements – that’s how most of the store’s DOS releases work, after all.
NoClip’s latest documentary goes deep into the history of GOG, from the reason behind its focus on DRM-free software to what’s required in its efforts at preserving old games. You can see Paczynski’s comments on console titles at 39:38 in the video above, but the full documentary is well worth your time.