It's also our responsibility--all of us, not just moderators--to check out accusations thoroughly before making them.
The term abandonware is not applied to media "provided by companies out of business or where the copyright has expired." That's s both inaccurate and far too loose. U.S. copyright laws state that copyrights owned by corporations are valid for
95 years from the date of first publication. That applies to all media. So
every computer game you play, no matter how old, is still under copyright. When the company ceases to exist, the copyright doesn't simply "poof." It remains the property of the owners of the former corporation, to do with as they see fit.
That's why the market in reissuing "antique" media exists thanks to content owners who have deliberately (and graciously) permitted their distribution and waived all fees. This is a common practice, and dates back more than 50 years. Columbia Records, for example, has always allowed most of its jazz and classical recordings from the 1930s to be reissued by minor labels without any payment. The results may be reasonably described as "audio abandonware."
This procedure applies to computer games, as well: as long as the games in question are not sold without the copyright holder's consent, their distribution is considered legitimate. This is the case with Ubisoft's license to the older Might and Magic titles, purchased in 2003. The most reputable abandonware sites that check with current software owners before offering their games for download, such as
Abandonia, have received permission for placing World of Xeen (M&M IV and V) on their websites. Ubisoft has neither requested their removal, nor added their titles to the IDSA/ESA anti-piracy list.
So depending upon your point of view, either no games qualify as abandonware--because legally, none do--or select games do, with tacit permission of their current rights holders. And the early M&M titles qualify.