The Launch of GTA Remastered Trilogy – What Truly Transpired

by Robbie Stevens / Articles, Editorials, Grand Theft Auto / 21 Nov 2021

Players continue to voice their frustrations concerning the recent release of Rockstar’s GTA Remastered Trilogy. Read on for the full scoop.

After some hands-on time, critics and players have begun sharing their official impressions in the wake of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – Definitive Edition’s launch. Worse still, at this point, verdicts are looking somewhat bleak for Rockstar’s much-anticipated bundle.

The Launch of The GTA Remastered Trilogy

In truth, the last few days have been a turbulent time for Rockstar, with PC players unable to play the game shortly after its release.

It all transpired when the Rockstar Games PC launcher went down, after which the trilogy was then unexpectedly pulled from the official store. As you might imagine, this left some players scratching their heads in frustration—not least those who had already placed a purchase.

The problem persisted for up to three days. Until finally, Rockstar reinstated the bundle on their official store page, as outlined by Rockstar Support.

So, rest assured it’s back up now.

Why Was the GTA Remastered Trilogy Unavailable?

Taking to Twitter, Rockstar revealed the reason why the GTA trilogy had been inaccessible. According to the company, they needed time to “remove files unintentionally included in these versions.”

Unfortunately, we haven’t heard info on which files Rockstar is referring to, in particular. Though some speculate this could relate to unlicensed songs within San Andrea’s code.

As reported by Kotaku, the game’s withdrawal could concern the inclusion of leftover content recently discovered by data miners, which reportedly entails various dev comments and potentially parts of the notorious “Hot Coffee” sex mini-game. However, that’s just speculation at this point.

What Do Players Think?

Unfortunately, the launch aftermath hasn’t been smooth sailing for Rockstar. As it stands, players continue to express their disappointment on Metacritic. Meanwhile, reports of refund requests are starting to do the rounds.

At the time of writing, the GTA Trilogy on PC has faced overwhelming dislike by players on Metacritic, with a score of 0.5. On other platforms, the picture is equally problematic. On PS5, despite having achieved mixed to average reviews from critics, the user score still sits below one at 0.9, which, in my mind, is far from ideal from a consumer perspective.

Conclusion

With widespread reports of bugs and other various performance problems, it looks as though the road ahead will be a busy one for Grove Street Games. However, despite the backlash, several improvements in both visual and gameplay aspects warrant a mention.

As a loyal fan of these timeless classics, I hope they can stabilize the ship and give this great trilogy the launch it deserves. We’ll have to sit firm and see what Rockstar has to say in the next few days. As soon as anything new drops, we’ll be sure to serve it your way.

We want to hear from you, the gamer. What do you make of the GTA Remastered Trilogy? Are you having a good time with the game, or have you run into problems like others?

We can’t wait to hear from you. So, until next time, I’ll see you on the neon-soaked strip of Vice City.

Robbie Stevens

Robbie is a lifelong gaming enthusiast who grew up in the glorious era of Goldeneye split-screen multiplayer. Although he's excited for Ragnarok, Robbie is often found delving back into his retro roots; entirely convinced Metal Gear Solid 1 and Ocarina of Time are masterpieces of equal merit.
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