A recurring question in retro gaming communities is some version of "where can I legally buy this old game." GOG.com is one of the most direct, mainstream answers to that question, and understanding how it works clarifies a lot about game rights in general.
The Rights-Clearing Problem
Many older PC games have publishing rights that were split, sold, transferred or simply left unclear as original publishers shut down, merged or changed ownership repeatedly over the following decades. Before a storefront can legally resell an old game, someone has to track down whoever currently holds those rights and negotiate a distribution agreement — a process that can take far longer than it sounds.
What "DRM-Free" Actually Means Here
GOG.com's releases are typically sold without digital rights management copy protection, packaged with compatibility layers so older software runs on modern operating systems without requiring the original hardware or operating system it launched on. This differs meaningfully from simply downloading an old executable found online, because the rights holder has explicitly authorized this specific, updated release.
Why This Matters for an Abandonware Conversation
The word "abandonware" often gets used loosely to describe any old, hard-to-buy game, but a title available through a properly licensed storefront is not actually abandoned in any legal sense — someone still holds and is actively licensing those rights. For more on that distinction, see What Is Abandonware?.
Using This as a Reference Point
When VG90 labels a game's legal status, a properly licensed re-release through a storefront like this is exactly the kind of verification that supports a "rights-holder approved" classification rather than a "reference only" one. See How to Preserve Retro Gaming Legally for the broader landscape of legitimate options.
