Twenty-five PC classics from Electronic Arts are now available on Steam, GOG, and the EA app, including seven restored anniversary editions of Road Rash and the Wing Commander series. The rest of the collection includes games from Ultima and Crusader, as well as Theme Hospital. The updated versions restore cinematic sequences from the original tapes and add improvements for playing on modern systems.
The announcement, published by EA on November 5, 2026, marks the culmination of a preservation project led by Jim Vessella, a senior producer at EA. The company unveiled the new editions of Road Rash and six Wing Commander games alongside 18 other titles. EA describes the latter as faithful conversions; they do not carry the Anniversary Edition label.
Steam availability is particularly significant for some of the catalog: PC Gamer notes that the classic games that are not anniversary editions were already on GOG, while the newly restored editions are also arriving on that store. EA, for its part, announced the collection's relaunch on Steam, GOG, and the EA app.
Seven anniversary editions and specific improvements
The seven restored versions are Road Rash: 30th Anniversary Edition; Wing Commander and Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi, both in 35th Anniversary Editions; and Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger, Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom, Wing Commander Prophecy, and Privateer 2: The Darkening, in 30th Anniversary Editions.
EA says these editions preserve the look, experience, and creative intent of the originals, with quality-of-life adjustments for modern systems and controls, as well as performance improvements. Features vary from game to game: announced specifications include frame rates of up to 60 frames per second, controller and joystick support, windowed modes, cloud saves, and enhanced video options.
The 1996 PC version of Road Rash is making its digital debut with this edition. EA has relicensed its soundtrack, which includes tracks by Soundgarden, Paw, Hammerbox, Monster Magnet, Swervedriver, and Therapy?, and allows them to be played during races. The company has also restored its FMV sequences and offers optional upscaled versions of the videos.
In an interview with The Game Business, Vessella explained that securing the music rights required tracking down band members and getting their approval. The process took 12 months and, according to the producer, was completed just in time for launch.
Improvements to Wing Commander III include higher-resolution videos, a community patch for 60 FPS gameplay, and a tool for calibrating inputs. For Wing Commander IV, the patch adds similar features, and EA has included a balance adjustment to reduce enemy missile use, which could abruptly end a run. Players who prefer the original behavior can restore the previous data from the Extras folder, Vessella said.
For Privateer 2: The Darkening, EA offers three options for the scenes: the restored source footage, an upscaled option that preserves the original color tone, and a “Director’s Cut” with color correction and an edit by the original cinematic director. Improvements vary by game, but in several cases the anniversary editions also incorporate community patches and improved controller support.
EA's archive and the recovered scenes
The project began with a discovery on EA's Redwood Shores campus. Vessella dates the discovery of the physical vault to March 2022: it contained nearly 20,000 archival materials, including Betacam, VHS, and D1 tapes, as well as film reels, CD-ROMs, and other media. In his account, published by EA, he says he spent time reviewing and organizing the space before starting the digitization process.
The cataloging work led to a lengthy operation. EA says that by April 2026, it had digitized 6,000 materials and preserved around 2,500 hours of historical footage. The team also located the master tapes for Wing Commander and Road Rash. The Verge and PC Gamer describe the process as the recovery of FMV master sequences that were considered lost.
The footage was reviewed and edited to restore the scenes to the games. EA puts the number of restored cinematic sequences across the seven titles at more than 1,500. In his detailed account of Wing Commander III, Vessella says the game has around 475 full-screen cinematics, and that extracting, identifying, and cleaning up those scenes took about six months. Tapes containing in-flight communications messages turned up later: another 460 sequences of that kind were restored.
For Wing Commander IV, the team recovered around 240 of the approximately 280 scenes from D1 tapes. Vessella says the footage slightly improved on the DVD edition's quality and served as the basis for the optional upscaling. EA lets players choose between the master videos, the upscaled versions, and the original videos from the 1990s.
Privateer 2 presented a different problem: EA had found some of the footage, but scenes were missing, and its quality did not match that of the Wing Commander III and IV material. The solution came when the original cinematic director, Steve Hilliker, found the complete collection of Digi 8 master tapes in his attic. EA commissioned him to digitize them and prepare a Director’s Cut version.
The Wing Commander community contributes to the official versions
Restoration was not limited to EA's internal work. The company incorporated modifications and patches created by Wing Commander fans into the new editions. Vessella told The Game Business that nearly a dozen modders contributed to different installments, and that EA followed the proper attribution process when incorporating community software.
In his account published by EA, Vessella highlights the work of Matt Wells, known as Mash, whose enhancement patch for Wing Commander III made it possible to play higher-resolution MP4 videos. The collaboration with Wells lasted more than two years and included testing, fixes, and features such as 60 FPS playback, a controller calibration tool, and configurable settings.
For Wing Commander IV, community leader Ben “LOAF” Lesnick worked with Vessella on a balance change designed to reduce enemy missile attacks. The adjustment can be disabled by copying the previous file from Extras. EA also acknowledges Owen “ODVS” Davies's advice on the video upscaling work.
The update is free for anyone who already owns digital versions of Wing Commander games on GOG or the EA app: they will receive the corresponding Anniversary Edition on the same platform. EA describes this as a way to thank the community for its involvement and support.
“This project is a love letter to my childhood, and we hope it will be a very special moment for longtime fans.”
— Jim Vessella, senior producer at EA
The 25 games and announced prices
The collection combines the seven anniversary editions with 18 classic re-releases. The full catalog announced by EA is:
- Road Rash: 30th Anniversary Edition
- Wing Commander: 35th Anniversary Edition
- Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi: 35th Anniversary Edition
- Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger: 30th Anniversary Edition
- Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom: 30th Anniversary Edition
- Wing Commander Prophecy: 30th Anniversary Edition
- Privateer 2: The Darkening: 30th Anniversary Edition
- Wing Commander: Privateer
- Wing Commander: Academy
- Wing Commander: Armada
- Strike Commander
- Theme Hospital
- Crusader: No Remorse
- Crusader: No Regret
- Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness
- Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress
- Ultima III: Exodus
- Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
- Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny
- Ultima VI: The False Prophet
- Ultima VII: The Complete Edition
- Ultima VIII: Gold Edition
- Ultima IX: Ascension
- Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss
- Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds
Electronic Arts has set the price of Road Rash and the Wing Commander Anniversary Editions at €9.99 per edition; the other 18 games cost €4.99 each, according to Multiplayer.it. The Verge lists the prices in dollars: $9.99 for the anniversary editions and $4.99 for the rest.
There are also two different promotional periods. Multiplayer.it reports discounts on Steam and GOG from November 5 to 9. EA is advertising special prices on those same stores from November 5 to 19.
The scope of the digitization work is already attracting interest from other EA studios: Vessella told The Game Business that they have started sending him materials found in offices in Vancouver and Tiburon to be digitized. The announcement does not specify which games might benefit from that work; for now, all 25 games in this collection are available on the announced stores.
Sources: Multiplayer.it, PC Gamer, The Verge, Electronic Arts, Electronic Arts, The Game Business, Rádio Itatiaia
