Question is there a way to copy my old game CDs?

[parsimonius]

What options do I have? I bought several RPG games back in the late 90s and early 2000s and continue replaying them. The CDs are reaching their physical end of life soon, being over 20 years old, so I'm trying to get my ducks in a row to replace the physical media (CDs) with new ones that should last for just as long. I have no real interest in buying the new "modern" versions of them due to changed game content between then and now. Nor do I plan to stream (?) them from a service like Valve, Steam(?) for privacy and security reasons.

The games were originally made by Wizards of the Coast, Bioware and Bethesda Software (Wizardry, BG/ToTSC, BG2/ToB, IWD IWD2. NWN, NWN2, Planescape Torment). I think only Bethesda Software is in business now d.b.a. Bethsoft. Do any of them offer a CD replacement program for old CDs nearing their EOL?

 

[Eximo]

No one offers replacements as far as I am aware. Steam is a not a streaming service. They sell digital copies of games that you are then licensed to use. They are large enough that they aren't likely to go away any time soon, but that is up to if you want to repurchase old games through them, or other services like good old games (gog.com).

Game streaming is when the game is run on hardware other than your own, and the video is sent to you over the internet. These are usually subscription services.

Most common practice is to back them up as ISO files on a hard drive or solid state disc. Then you just mount the ISO as a virtual drive. Windows supports ISO mounting directly now.

You still need a tool to make the ISO files. I've most recently used a tool called ImgBurn.

How to Create ISO Files From Discs on Windows, Mac, and Linux

An ISO file is a complete disc image of a CD or DVD bundled into a single file.

www.howtogeek.com

 

[BFG-9000]

If they are still readable on at least one drive, then you could make copies now.

I have never liked to use original discs so have always used a copy, even back in the 90s when there were only 2X CD burners. As a result the originals are all still pristine (I do understand that some original discs can suffer from bit-rot and become unreadable even if they still look perfect, but this seems to be more of an issue with movies, especially from Warner Home Video)

Much to my surprise, I recently found those 30-year old burned CDs are still perfectly readable today. Back then I went through a lot of CD-Rs and relegated the brands with high error rates on my equipment to music mixes for the car, where they could last as short as one summer. Dyes are less heat stable than pressed discs, but in cool temperatures they seem to last for decades.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

Do any of them offer a CD replacement program for old CDs nearing their EOL?

no.
if any are still offering these titles, it would be through a service like Steam. which you don't seem interested in.
but, they would make you pay for them again anyway even if they did offer a direct download option.

games like Diablo II: Resurrected are actually a good option to repurchase though. much better than the original with the option to actually switch back and forth between the OG and the remake.

@Eximo has offered what appears to be the best option for you;
just create images of all of the discs and back them up on some digital media(external drive, etc).
you can store the original discs away somewhere safe, use the images when necessary, and only pull the OGs back out to re-do the process if the new storage media happens to fail someday.

one thing i would wonder though,
can these old 90s era CD based games even be played on a modern OS?
all those i used to have needed the CD loaded to read data directly while playing and i haven't seen a game use this method for decades now.