The recently released Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition has been met with criticism from GTA fans and critics alike, and its poor performance has brought developer Rockstar Games to a new low. The highly anticipated collection featuring remastered versions of the popular PS2 era titles Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas had promised players better graphics, controls, and more. Upon release, however, longtime fans are disappointed, only exacerbated by other recent disappointments from Rockstar in recent years.
Following its announcement last month, GTA: The Trilogy became a hotly anticipated game, promising to modernize the PS2 classics with modern controls akin to those in GTA 5, better graphics, in addition to several other announced improvements, altogether intended to be, as the title suggested, the definitive way to play these titles. Upon release, however, the GTA remasters turned out unexpectedly bad. The game faced backlash for numerous bugs, reused assets from GTA 5, and questionable graphical changes. These issues were only more glaring to players alongside Rockstar removing the original versions of the games from purchase in their online stores, taking away the ability for players to experience the less-buggy originals. And with the game being temporarily inaccessible on PC due to the Rockstar Launcher going into maintenance, players have had their fair share of issues with this release.
This isn't the first time, even in recent memory, that fans have had taken issue with Rockstar. Several questionable decisions over the last few years have left a linger feeling with some fans that they aren't being listened to or valued, and for some, GTA: The Trilogy may even be something of a last straw. Between the perceived over-reliance on GTA 5 and GTA Online, possibly at the cost of a new original Grand Theft Auto title, and the poor treatment of Red Dead Online, Rockstar has a lot to answer for in the minds of fans.
Rockstar's Investment In GTA 5 & Online Perplexes Fans
It's no question that GTA 5 has been Rockstar's greatest success story. As the best-selling Grand Theft Auto game, it has been a continued hit among fans, but this continuous nature of its popularity is proving to be somewhat detrimental to outlook on the company. Releasing in 2013 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, shortly before both console companies would announce their new systems. These new systems, at the time of the first releases, would not be supporting backwards compatibility, resulting in disappointment of older titles missing out on the new console generation. Rockstar was quick to assuage worries, promising an Xbox One and PlayStation 4 version of GTA 5, releasing in 2014. Fans were pleased with the rereleases, offering improved graphics and framerates on the more powerful hardware, as well as introducing new content to the game, something to tide players over until this generation's new Grand Theft Auto released.
The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 wouldn't see their own original Grand Theft Auto title, however, breaking a tradition of a new title each generation since the original PlayStation saw the release of the original Grand Theft Auto. As the scope for these games have gotten bigger and bigger with each entry, it's easy to envision development times taking longer and longer, but many fans have noted that Rockstar's continued investment in GTA 5 may be at the cost of a potential GTA 6. Rumored to be experiencing a rocky development, it's possible that development on GTA 6 is being held back by Rockstar's focus on GTA Online, the multiplayer sandbox component of GTA 5. GTA Online continues to generate money for Rockstar through microtransactions for in-game currency, which may explain why after 8 years, Rockstar has said nothing about a sequel. The upcoming release of GTA 5 for Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 has only disappointed fans further, fearing that this may mean another console generation without a new Grand Theft Auto experience.
Red Dead Online Continues To Disappoint Fans
Red Dead Redemption 2 was the long-awaited sequel to Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption, featuring an online component similar to GTA Online, with mixed reception. Criticisms have been directed toward the lack of agency players have, with Red Dead Online players working for seemingly everyone but themselves, but even as early as its release, the game has had no shortage of issues. At launch, players were unhappy with how the in-game economy worked, seeming to prioritize players willing to purchase microtransactions for gold bars over those who wished to play the game to earn them, with players estimating the time it would take them to earn 1 gold bar equated 8 hours of missions.
The lack of updates, especially when compared to GTA Online, has left many Red Dead fans disappointed as well. Once most upgrades are purchased in-game, making money in Red Dead Online feels pointless, as there isn't much left to spend it on. Players are often left struggling to find something to do in the world. Where GTA Online locks higher leveled missions behind larger purchases - buying a penthouse for access to heists, which leads to purchasing an arcade for access to a higher paying heist - Red Dead Online players end up having lots of money with absolutely nothing left in-game to spend it on.
GTA: The Trilogy is only the latest in disappointments fans have faced from Rockstar. Although Rockstar has issued an apology following the backlash, this has not done much to dissuade disappointed fans from pointing out the failure of Rockstar to deliver on the promised remaster for the classic games. Rockstar's promised updates to alleviate these issues has no set release date as of yet, but with posts continuing to go viral pointing out bugs, poor graphical choices, and other flaws in Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition, it can be assumed that all resources which can be spared by developer Grove Street Games will be funneled into making the promised fixes as soon as possible. Where the broken remastered trilogy will eventually end up after being updated remains an open question, but perhaps an even bigger one is whether it will be too little, too late for a legion of players who have gone through too much disappointment for too long.