Grand Theft Auto Remastered Trilogy is coming this year

For many months it has been rumored that the classic PS2 Grand Theft Auto Trilogy would be getting the remaster treatment and released on modern consoles. According to a new report by Kotaku, Rockstar Games is indeed working on the new collection and it looks to be launching later this year alongside the upcoming GTA V: Expanded & Enhanced Edition for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Recent leaks have confirmed that GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas will be receiving the remaster treatment, with the games being reworked in Unreal Engine and featuring a mix of “new and old graphics”, along with an updated UI which will still retain the classic style. It has been said that the remasters will stick to the PS2 style of gameplay, rather than remaking the games entirely to play similarly to newer titles such as GTA V.

Earlier this year Rockstar Games began issuing DCMA takedown notices on many GTA 3 mods, primarily ones that were unofficial remakes and remasters of the game, which only added fuel to the fire that Rockstar Games had something up their sleeves. It is being reported that one of their smaller Scottish studios, Rockstar Dundee, will be handling the development of this new collection. Rockstar Dundee previously developed Crackdown 2 and 3, as well as helped with the development of Halo: Master Chief Collection when the studio was known as Ruffian Games. The studio was acquired by Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar Games’ parent company, in October 2020 making this their first title under the Take-Two umbrella.

According to the leakers, this new collection, and other smaller similar projects, are the reason why we’ve seen fewer updates for Red Dead Online, as all attention has been on these new releases.

Originally the games were set to be bundled together as a bonus for players that purchase the upcoming GTA V: Expanded & Enhanced Edition but will instead be released as a standalone collection. The GTA Remastered Trilogy Collection is expected to be released on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Google Stadia, Nintendo Switch, and iOS/Android mobile devices.

Sources have stated that the games are set to launch in either late October or early November, lining up perfectly with GTA V: Expanded & Enhanced which is due to be released on November 11th 2021.

With Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games rumored to have multiple smaller projects in the works, including multiple relating to the GTA franchise, it does beg the question of whether the company is trying to buy time when it comes to the development of GTA 6. The previous entry in the series, GTA V, was released back in 2013, almost 8 years ago, and no official announcement has been made regarding GTA 6. It has been rumored that we won’t see the next entry until either 2024 or 2025, making it well over a decade between titles. In recent months we have seen Rockstar Games try new things with GTA Online, including the first-ever map expansion which saw the Cayo Perico Heists added to the game, as well as rumours that the company is set to try and replicate what games such as Fortnite do with real-time events in the game. It is possible that Rockstar Games is using GTA Online to test features that will become the norm in GTA 6.