Grand Theft Auto trilogy remasters are officially announced, coming this year
Take me down to Liberty City
As it was rumored, so it shall come to pass. Rockstar have just announced that they are indeed doing remasters of Grand Theft Auto III, GTA: San Andreas, and GTA: Vice City for PC and current consoles. Not just that, but they're coming this year which, now that it's October, means quite soon. They've rolled out a quick teaser trailer and just a couple details on what's getting freshened up in the trilogy remasters.
Later this month, on October 22 is the 20th anniversary of GTA 3, the first of Rockstar's crime 'em up series to unleash players in three whole dimensions on Liberty City.
"In addition to carving a new path for the open world genre, Grand Theft Auto III established Grand Theft Auto as a cultural phenomenon, alongside its two subsequent — and equally legendary — entries in the series, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," Rockstar say in today's announcement.
They're officially calling the new versions Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, which will be coming to PCs along with the PS4, PS5, the Xboxes X/S/One, and the Nintendo Switch. Rockstar say that the new versions of each game will come with those remaster-y bits we've come to expect such as visual improvements and modern gameplay niceties, though they aren't yet terribly specific on either, "while still maintaining the classic look and feel of the originals."
Rockstar say they'll be pulling current editions of all three games from digital stores starting next week, though of course you can still download and play them if you already own them.
It's always a bit of a bummer to see old ports and original versions get pulled from the digital shelves. As someone who started GTA on the numeral IV though, I certianly won't mind playing the early aughts games with whatever Rockstar deem to be modern conveniences.
GTA: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition is planned to launch sometime before the end of this year, Rockstar say. They've not given a specific date yet, but whatever the case it's fewer than three months out now.