Electronic Arts has provided an explanation for why it delisted four of its classic games from GOG and then later relisted the games for free. As reported by GamesIndustry.Biz, Ultima Underworld 1+2, Syndicate Plus, and Syndicate Wars were removed from the GOG storefront at the end of June per the "publisher's request."

Earlier this month, all four games returned to GOG and are available for free until September 3. In a statement, EA said, "Syndicate and Ultima Underworld are back! It seems that twenty years on there’s still plenty of love for these titles so we’re pleased to confirm that effective immediately they’ll be available again on GOG, and we’ll be keeping them in the store for the foreseeable future. To celebrate this we’re offering these games as a free download for four weeks.”

Now, EA vice president of marketing, commercial, and positive play, Chris Bruzzo told GamesIndustry.biz why exactly the delisting and subsequent reversal happened.