Digital Eclipse is remaking the original Wizardry, and you can play it right now

Surprise! Like a dual-wielding rogue pouncing from the shadows, Digital Eclipse has simultaneously revealed and launched a remake of the original Wizardry.

In a press release, Digital Eclipse explains the remake has been in development for two years, and is "built directly on top of the original Apple II game's code." While structurally faithful, the remake is nonetheless a full overhaul, with completely modernised visual presentation, a redesigned interface, a new method of party management, and changes to navigation, spellcasting, and combat.

Image of Wizardry remake showing the original game overlaid onto the remake's visually updated dungeon. — (Image credit: Digital Eclipse)

To be clear, the game is launching into Early Access rather than as a finished product. On the game's Steam page, Digital Eclipse states "the entire core of the game is playable" and that the Early Access period will focus primarily on "additional environment and object textures, audio elements, and character animations". Alongside updating work-in-progress game assets, Digital Eclipse also mentions they will use Early Access to "explore adding text localization, a guide to in game enemies and other features we believe will benefit players."

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is available now on Steam and GoG. You can watch the game in action in the trailer above, which shows some slick tile-based movement, a host of classic fantasy enemies getting battered by the party, and one vicious-looking rabbit. There's also a brief segment where the original game's wireframe display is overlaid onto the remake, hinting at its faithfulness.

2023 has been a pretty good year for remakes more generally, with Dead Space, Resident Evil 4, and System Shock all proving decent overhauls. Let's hope Digital Eclipse's redux of Wizardry contributes to that list.

Rick has been fascinated by PC gaming since he was seven years old, when he used to sneak into his dad's home office for covert sessions of Doom. He grew up on a diet of similarly unsuitable games, with favourites including Quake, Thief, Half-Life and Deus Ex. Between 2013 and 2022, Rick was games editor of Custom PC magazine and associated website bit-tech.net. But he's always kept one foot in freelance games journalism, writing for publications like Edge, Eurogamer, the Guardian and, naturally, PC Gamer. While he'll play anything that can be controlled with a keyboard and mouse, he has a particular passion for first-person shooters and immersive sims.