Dark Sun, Dragonlance and other classic Gold Box D&D titles make a return

This week, the publisher SNEG announced the return of the 1988 Gold Box series of D&D games. Included are Dark Sun, Dragonlance, Eye of the Beholder and other Forgotten Realms titles.

These classic computer games still have a page on Wizards of the Coast, although it’s for the latest 2015 versions, which required Windows XP or, say, Ubunto 14.04 to run. SNEGs’s re-released D&D games will go to Steam.

Oleg Klapovskiy, Director at SNEG, told the press;

Even decades after their original release, the Gold Box games are seen by many as iconic Dungeons & Dragons digital experiences, and they practically defined computer RPGs. Now, I’m overjoyed that we get to fulfill our dream of bringing these RPG gems back to PC gamers on Steam while introducing them to a new audience!”

We’re getting more than games. A companion app, a unified launcher and a character party transfer tool are all on the roadmap.

When do Dark Sun and the others hit Steam?

The launch date is March 29, just a few weeks from now, and you can see them listed on Steam here.

Forgotten Realms: The Archives Collection One

(Eye of the Beholder I, II, and III)

Forgotten Realms: The Archives – Collection Two

(Curse of the Azure Bonds, Gateway to the Savage Frontier, Hillsfar, Pools of Darkness, Pool of Radiance, Secret of the Silver Blades, Treasures of the Savage Frontier, and Unlimited Adventures)

Forgotten Realms: The Archives – Collection Three

(Dungeon Hack, Menzoberranzan)

Krynn series

(Champions of Krynn, Death Knights of Krynn, The Dark Queen of Krynn)

Dark Sun series

(Shattered Lands, Wake of the Ravager)

Ravenloft series

(Strahd’s Possession, Stone Prophet)

D&D Stronghold: Kingdom Simulator

Al-Qadim: The Genie’s Curse

Those extras

Planned for the same time;

• A special Gold Box launcher, making it easier to manage your Gold Box games, and transfer your adventuring parties between games
• Enhanced DOSBox support to offer the best performance possible for these games on modern PC hardware
• Companion apps for Eye of The Beholder Series (All-Seeing Eye) and the majority of other Gold Box Classics (Gold Box Companion) that manage dungeon mapping for you, provide easier access to journal entries, let you access spellbooks, and much more!

Ethics

It’s upsetting that such a section is needed.

I researched SNEG before writing this post and discovered it’s a British company registered in High Street North, in London.

The three listed officers have Poland as their country of residence but are Russian. A creepy Google suggests that all three identify as Polish, and I wonder if SNEG’s Shchuiko is GOG’s Artem Shchuiko. Certainly, Oleg did work at GOG for 12 years.

Quick Links

• Steam Publisher: SNEG.