Wasteland 2 backers could be receiving the original Wasteland on GOG or Steam before the end of the week

Stumbling through the irradiated wilderness, we come to a serene and untainted grove. Is it real? Could it be? Is Wasteland 2 finally ready? Alas, no. These aren't glorious faux-isometric trees, but top down sprites of crude vegetation. It was all a mirage. It's not Wasteland 2 that we're approaching, but instead its precursor. The re-release of the original Wasteland - promised during the sequel's Kickstarter - should soon be with backers, possibly as early as tomorrow.

"All our backers – whether through Wasteland 2's Kickstarter, as a late backer through Paypal, or if you got Wasteland 2 through your Torment pledge – will be getting a copy of Wasteland 1 for free," writes inXile's Chris Keenan . "They will be available as soon as the game goes live on GOG.com and Steam, which could happen as early as Friday, and we'll email our backers then. Access will be limited to backers only initially. You will be able pick between getting either a Steam or GOG.com key, whichever is your preference."

As well as being an easily accessible version of the 1988 classic, this release also offers a variety of extra features. In response to user feedback, the team have spent their time working on: "a toggle to turn smoothing off, implementing swappable portraits, tweaking portrait art options, in-game manual text on abilities, stats and skills and ensuring it works on Mac and Linux." Although, as commenters to the Kickstarter update point out, splitting the game between GOG and Steam does mean that there's no confirmed non-DRM option for users. While it's possible the Steam version will run without the client open - some games, although certainly not the majority, do - there's no way of knowing until the game is released.

As yet, there's no word on when Wasteland will be made available for non-backers.

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Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.