Take-Two CEO and Rockstar Games boss Strauss Zelnick has downplayed the rather disastrous launch of the Grand Theft Auto trilogy. The launch of the GTA trilogy has been seen as a low point for Rockstar. The developer is known for making some of the most highly regarded games of all time and almost always delivers them with a level of polish that isn't found in a lot of other massive developers. The company's reputation has allotted it the ability to take its time on its games, resulting in better products.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the trilogy. Since its release in November, players have experienced a number of game-breaking bugs in the GTA trilogy. Rockstar has worked to fix these issues, but the release was mocked by many for feeling rushed and messy. Players encountered issues with rain, invisible surfaces, lack of detail, and much more. Given the original versions of the trilogy are so memorable and beloved, it really upset a lot of fans. Even to this day, the GTA trilogy is still bogged down by some issues, but it's better than it was in November.
Nonetheless, in an interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer (via Twitter user evelnjgeek), Strauss Zelnick seemed to downplay the severity of GTA trilogy's headache-inducing launch. Cramer had noted that Rockstar and Take-Two are known for not putting titles out until they're ready, but Strauss pushed back on this saying that "with regards to the GTA trilogy, that was actually not a new title. That was a remaster of preexisting titles. We did have a glitch in the beginning, that glitch was resolved." To say there was just one glitch is putting it lightly. Players are still reporting issues such as a GTA 3 glitch that prevents players from unlocking the last achievement in the game.
It's possible Zelnick is just referencing an issue that required the game to be removed from PC shortly after release. It was believed there were files left in the game that Rockstar had to remove, but no specific details were ever confirmed by the developer. Nonetheless, that was just one of many issues with the launch of the GTA trilogy. This was not an isolated issue and GTA players would likely point to several other major glitches that were present at the remastered trilogy's launch.
The issues were so prevalent that Rockstar offered free games to GTA trilogy owners, meaning the developer felt it needed to make amends with its community. Although the trilogy was largely developed by Grove Street Games, Rockstar still had oversight on the product and put its name on the box. For something that was meant to be a celebration of the franchise, the GTA trilogy felt like a shadow of what fans of the series have come to expect from Rockstar.
Source: CNBC (via evelnjgeek/Twitter)