Shame that it's unlikely that some of the genre defining games are unable to be released on GOG such as Dune II or Command & Conquer.

Did something go wrong with the article?
The topic of RTS though time does not seem to be discussed properly only with the first and the last relevant game (even if you only consider the titles on GOG)

Just testing the link:

https://www.gog.com/promo/2022_summer_sale_strategy?utm_medium=editorial&utm_source=content&utm_campaign=2022060_summer_sale_gog&utm_term=EN

No, they either felt lazy, didn't have the manpower to write a better article, or the employee (intern?) assigned to it had close to zero knowledge in the matter.

The same thing happened to the point & click games "article". You can be sure it will happen again to the next genre showcased in the sale.

For me, RTS and 90s mean Age of Empires. It'd be a dream come true if the saga found its way to GOG.

Unfortunately, the existence of the HD/remaster/whateverrandomeditionname of those games ensures that will absolutely never happen, because it's considered the "superior" version.

Warcraft is indeed a good game though as others have said many RTS classic are sadly missing here (Dune 2, Age of Empires 1-3, Age of Mythology, Rise of Nations, etc), along with some interesting "hybrid" games like Dune (a weird but enjoyable strategy / adventure mix) and Cyber Empires (turn-based strategy, real-time tactical). 1992 was a great year for early DOS strategy games yet so many are missing here. Indeed. As soon as the "HD" versions came out (and then quickly turned into Skyrim style "let's re-release the same game every few years" Definitive Editions and then laced with Denuvo-style "Arxan" Microsoft DRM), the chance of seeing the originals here fell to zero. The only good news is that the of Age of Empires 1-2 Collectors Edition (published by Ubisoft of all people) DVD-ROM and Age of Mythology Gold Edition are DRM-Free if you can find them on Ebay. Then patch AoE1 with uPatch and AoE2 with Userpatch for bug fixes, added widescreen support, larger population sizes, etc. Works flawlessly even on W10.

Yeah, I've been lucky to grab those when they were in the shops around here years ago. I even have an Age of Empires 3 Complete Collection on discs, which is also without DRM.

But really sucks for people who missed out on those. Because it seems like it was the last chance to be able to legally obtain those games without DRM. Now all you have left is E-Bay or Amazon hunting for some copies.

This article does not make sense.. the start with warcraft rather than Dune II is ridiculous. warcraft was fun and i loved it but Dune II was 2 years before that! how can you talk about evolution and not start with the game that started it all, even if its not on GOG and unfortunately unlikely to be.... and where are the rest of the games that provides some evolution as well... command and conquer with its cinematic feel, starcraft, Z with its humour and different approach, war craft 3 and the addition of some RPG elements, spellforce and the mix of RTS with more RPG / story elements, evolution of RTS into VR with a mix of FPS / RTS of Guardians VR or other RTS VR games.. the article starts with a great premise but delivers nothing. would have been a neat touch too to start with dune 2 and end it with dune spicewars and show the difference between 2 games based on the same setting.. a lot of potential wasted.

for y in (1994, 2020):
random.choice([g for g in games where g.year = y and g.subgenre = 'real_time_strategy'])

shame Dune or Command & Conquer isnt here
though Dune isnt really a pure RTS but more like a hybryd between Adventure/RTS game

The modern RTS origins (sorta) was Dune, but the Westwood Dune 2, it is the proper Real time Strategy game as it was popularized later, at difference of the first hybryd Cryo Game, (Great game though). Regardless the RTS concept is also present in the Cryo Dune, nevertheless

Greetings

My thoughts exactly... ... this too...

However, in all fairness, having the first 2 Warcrafts here, Total Annihilation, Dark Reign and plenty of other RTSes from the golden age is still a boon. No. They're going with a "then vs now" approach apparently, one example from each (it was the same for adventure games).