Grand Theft Auto fans have been avidly waiting for more news on the future of the franchise, with some insiders stating that the sixth installment won't be in players' hands until at least 2025.
Rumors suggested that Rockstar Games was preparing a Grand Theft Auto Trilogy bundle in the meantime, comprising of Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
These rumblings were confirmed when Rockstar formally announced Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition with a teaser trailer, stating that the titles would receive gameplay and graphical improvements while staying true to their original incarnations.
Now, on the day of GTA 3's 20th Anniversary, more details about the upcoming GTA release have been revealed.
GTA Trilogy Release Date Revealed
A new listing on Rockstar Games' website revealed the release date for Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition alongside a whole host of additions and updates to the new versions of these classic titles.
The collection will officially release on November 11, 2021 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
Xbox Game Pass subscribers will be able to get access to the San Andreas portion of the bundle starting November 11 as well. The bundle will also become available on PlayStation Now on December 7.
The game's developer is listed as Rockstar Games, while also mentioning that it has been adapted by Grove Street Games. The latter developer has previously ported various GTA titles in the past, including all the titles included in the collection to iOS and Android platforms.
These new versions are packed with plenty of enhancements, including "new lighting and environmental upgrades" and "Grand Theft Auto V-style controls" to bring the titles up to modern standards:
"Three iconic cities, three epic stories. Play the genre-defining classics of the original Grand Theft Auto Trilogy: Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas updated for a new generation, now with across-the-board enhancements including brilliant new lighting and environmental upgrades, with high-resolution textures, increased draw distances, Grand Theft Auto V-style controls and targeting, and much more, bringing these beloved worlds to life with all new levels of detail."
As well as updating gameplay such as updates to “gunplay and targeting controls,” the remaster will also bring quality-of-life updates like “enhanced navigation” for Mini-Maps and “the ability to immediately restart a failed mission.”
Along with the announcement, Rockstar released a brand-new trailer for the collection showcasing comparisons between the original and remastered versions of the games:
A Reimagined Grand Theft Auto III Trilogy
It seems that players won't have to wait much longer to revisit the streets of Liberty City, Vice City, and San Andreas, this time around being in a higher polygon fashion.
This announcement falling on the 20th anniversary of Grand Theft Auto III's release affirms that Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition is a celebration of the original title and its sequels, demonstrating the passion Rockstar Games has for its legacy.
Being a remaster, it was expected that the collection would be enhanced with graphics to match the horsepower and graphic fidelity possible by modern hardware. However, it is quite interesting that the control scheme from GTA V will be used for these ports.
Rockstar describes this as a "GTAV-style controller layout," so it is unclear whether the way players move their character will be the same as GTA V or if the button layouts will simply match those of the most recent entry. If the former is true, this may be a more significant update to these classic games than players previously thought.
Judging from how the collection's character models have avoided hyperrealistic graphics, found in GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2, in favor of a more stylized look reminiscent of the original titles, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition should still feel incredibly faithful to how fans remember the games when they first released.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition will be available for purchase on November 11, 2021.