Unfortunatly I think that for some reason, EA and GOG probably have it inside their contract to release certain games only during a certain time but thats unconfirmed and just a rumor.

Technically EA still owns the publishing rights when it comes to the PC release and I can see it appearing on the GOG store at some point, but I have no idea when that might be. Black and White also had Mac releases which were handled by a different property owner, which could complicate things if GOG wants to release all versions of the game on its store for the sake of completeness.

So the answer to your question is, nobody really knows when GOG might bring us Black and White 1 and 2 but chances are high that they might release it on this platform at some point.

The wishlist is here if you want to add your vote:-
https://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/black_and_white_1_2_1

With all the wishlist votes, it's clear people want to have their nostalgia glasses crushed into a fine rose tinted dust, so there's only two factors that could really be holding the game back from release.

1) Legal factors. IE, some party between EA, Lionhead, GOG, and other assorted parties hasn't given an all clear for the release. Considering that this could come down to individuals or dead ends, this is likely.

2) Technical Factors. Say things are legally clear. This leaves technical factors as the more likely of two issues. So you know how Interstate 76 is an impressive technical gong show? Imagine that, multiplied by the factors of the already unstable Lionhead engines of the era. Pop3D already needs some help to run on today's machines, So imagine that multiplied by a few factors.


The only thing left there would be EA or Lionhead being bullheaded about letting it release on GOG.

Regarding Technical factors - I run my old copy of B&W fine on win8 (yet to try it on my new win10 setup). I suspect it's the Legal factors.

B & L I & II, and the Creature Isle expansion were great games; imo, the best god-game story and mechanics to date. And I would really like to see them retailed here.

I agree with Darvond re. stability issues; I think to run on today's machines, it would have to be run in emulation, and patched for emulation. . . one of the first things to be done would be to move all data files OUT OF THE DIRECTORY. I never understood this method. . . I'm sure there was a reason. . . just never understood it. Also, creatures definitely would need an AI overhaul. And. . . I'm sure it's a long list.

I would say it's probably at the bottom of EA's list; the smarts to make this game work on contemporary machines would cost more than EA would pay. Currently, EA owns all rights to the game, and Lionshead is defunct, so the ball is in EA's court. If they ever opt to promote and publish B & L, it should be a completed re-release by competent dev. studio. . . not just a bunch of in-house interns scattering assets on an engine. Sometimes it's just better to replace the motor than overhaul it.

Not that simple due to (usually) legal issues or sometimes technical issues. You can be sure GOG would love to have them though. what you can do to help is vote for the games you'd buy on GOG via the community wishlist -

https://www.gog.com/wishlist/games#search=black&order=votes_total - or try contacting EA and/or post-Lionhead devs.