Rockstar Games' silence regarding the next installment of Grand Theft Auto has been deafening, and years of rumors about what the eventual release of GTA 6 could look like have stirred up all kinds of excitement. Still, when the company announced it would be porting GTA 5 to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, fans became skeptical that an announcement would come any time soon. Some rumors even surfaced that Rockstar might be planning remakes or remasters of past series entries, but that's even more unrealistic than GTA 6 releasing in 2021.

Several rumors suggesting that remakes of GTA 3Vice City, and San Andreas could be underway have been circulating in online forums. While rereleases have recently had a moment in the games industry, like the Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Resident Evils 2 & 3, it's unlikely that Rockstar will follow in those footsteps. The company has yet to say anything about what will follow GTA 5 and GTA Online, but a remake or a remaster seems out of character for Rockstar.

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The company has never released a full-fledge remake of a past title in its history; it has only ever ported its games to new platforms. The PS4 port of L.A. Noire is a prior example, and the next-gen versions of GTA 5 are proof that the company isn't done iterating on GTA Online. While some gamers believe that Rockstar could be planning a surprise remake launch to hold them over until GTA 6, Rockstar would never rush to get a title out of the door like that. In fact, an overhaul of one of the company's past games might actually delay GTA 6.

GTA Remakes Wouldn't Be Simple Tasks

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Recently, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick stated that he would never want remasters to feel like "simple ports" during an earnings call. Seeing how GTA 3Vice City, and San Andreas all launched 20 to 17 years ago, they would have to be rebuilt from the ground up to bring them up to publishing standards. Rockstar would need to redistribute a lot of its dev power away from new projects and existing titles, like GTA Online and Red Dead Online, to make those remasters happen in a timely fashion.

For those reasons, a trifecta of remasters before the release of GTA 6 is unrealistic and unnecessary. GTA Online is currently making Rockstar millions, and its port to next-gen consoles will only continue that trend. Rockstar is in no rush to get anything released, and its past development cycles have shown that it's more than happy to take its time while developing its iconic open-world titles. It's not clear what the future holds for Grand Theft Auto, but a series of remakes appear improbable.

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