Video game publisher SNEG has announced plans to bring six classic PC games to Steam and GOG, expanding its preservation efforts beyond the recently released Warhammer Classics collection. The new line-up includes Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor, Warlords IV: Heroes of Etheria, Soldiers at War, Dark Earth, Ecstatica and Ecstatica II. The announcement coincides with a SNEG publisher sale on Steam, which will run until 27 July.
Originally developed by Stormfront Studios and released in 2001, Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor is a turn-based role-playing game based on the third edition rules of Dungeons & Dragons. The title served as an homage to the original Pool of Radiance, which launched in 1988. Infinite Interactive’s Warlords IV: Heroes of Etheria will also return. Released in 2003, the fantasy strategy game continued the long-running Warlords series with a focus on tactical battles between two opposing sides.
The collection also features Dark Earth, a 1997 action-adventure role-playing game developed by French studio Kalisto Entertainment. Set in a post-apocalyptic world devastated by a meteor collision, the game follows the protector of one of humanity’s last remaining settlements. Early survival horror games Ecstatica and Ecstatica II are also included. Developed by Andrew Spencer Studios and originally published by Psygnosis in 1994 and 1997 respectively, the games place players in the role of a nameless traveller exploring a demon-infested village in Northern Europe during 928 AD.
Completing the selection is Soldiers at War, a tactical Second World War game developed by Random Games and released in 1998. Players command a squad of American soldiers through a single-player campaign, with player-versus-player skirmishes also available.
SNEG Director Artem Shchuiko said the six games reflected the publisher’s interest in preserving unusual titles that experimented with the possibilities of PC gaming during their respective eras.
At SNEG, we love bringing classic games back to life – especially the ones that were ahead of their time, or just unusual in interesting ways. This curated slate of 6 games is a great example of that. Each of them tried something interesting and pushed PC gaming in its own way, with all the creativity, ambition, and even technical limitations of its era. We believe these games deserve to be available again – for players who remember them, for people discovering them for the first time, and hopefully even for creators who may find a spark of inspiration in these lost gems.
