GOG celebrates Star Wars Day with discounts — and the return of a cult classic

GOG.com is honoring tomorrow, May the Fourth — or Star Wars Day, if you prefer — with a weeklong sale on Star Wars games. These include bundles of games discounted by nearly 80 percent and the re-release of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, which first launched on Windows PC in 1997.

Shadows of the Empire, an action arcade-style game that takes place just before Star Wars: Episode 6, hits GOG today for the first time, and it's on sale for $4.79 this week. That's 20 percent off the list price.

Shadows of the Empire is a notable addition to both the GOG library and the sale, as fans have long encountered issues in trying to get the nearly 20-year-old game to run on modern hardware. Players have found that trying to get the Windows 95-compatible disk to play on current PCs results in frequent crashes, dysfunctional controls and unplayable speeds.

It's also been long requested by GOG customers. A wish list page for the title, which first launched on Nintendo 64, has hundreds of comments and more than 4,000 votes.

Also part of the sale and enjoying even bigger price drops are games like Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3D (58 percent off at $4.19) and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic ($2.29, a 77 percent discount). The former title is part of the Blaster Bundle, which has eight games for $30.16, while the latter is in the nine-game Saber Bundle. That package costs $20.15, an overall savings of $67.76, according to GOG.

All of the discounts are available now through May 8 at 8 am ET.

Other companies have plans for Star Wars Day, including Electronic Arts. The publisher is offering free trial of Star Wars Battlefront to celebrate the not-quite-national holiday.