GameTap Shutters Wing Commander

We have some bad news to report: due to apparent licensing issues, all three Wing Commander titles will be removed from GameTap on December 11th. This announcement affects more than just Electronic Arts' GameTap catalog -- over 70 titles will be removed from the service.

GameTap surprised and delighted fans a mere nine months ago by releasing the original Wing Commander emulated to run on a modern computer. It was followed by releases of Wing Commander IV and Wing Commander II - and Privateer was promised for the future. For a brief, shining moment young and old fans alike could easily (and legally) enjoy the classic games in all their glory.

It is possible that EA and GameTap will negotiate a new licensing deal and that the games will return in the future - or that EA plans to launch a similar service (on the other hand, this may simply be the cost of the service's planned international expansion). Until that time, I will certainly be canceling my Gold account ... and I would urge all other Wing Commander fans to do the same.