In true Rockstar fashion, a boat load of information was dropped on us earlier on today about the hotly anticipated GTA Trilogy The Definitive Edition release. Treated to a trailer just shy of a minute long featuring all three games with comparisons between old and new, plus a batch of screenshots showing the protagonists and general environment, we can say it was a pretty awesome way to celebrate GTA III’s 20th anniversary. Today was Rockstar’s day and they owned every minute of it!

I can probably guarantee you’ve seen all of this by now, but let us do a quick summary of everything we learned today for those in a hurry.

Trailer song: O Mio Babbino Caro (Hudson Mohawke Remix) – as featured on GTA III’s 10th anniversary trailer – find it here on Spotify

Development

Rockstar announced that Grove Street Games (formally War Drum Studios) are responsible for the adaptation of the original games for this new release, using Unreal Engine. The studio previously caught flack from the community following a buggy mobile port of San Andreas, but it appears as though Rockstar have placed the full force of their resources behind them for this new iteration of these classic games. Previous suggestions of Ruffian Games (now Rockstar Dundee) being in charge were perhaps red herrings of the rumour mill, though Rockstar were likely still responsible for areas such as QA testing.

Pre-Orders

Pre-orders opened across all platforms upon announcement today; the full cost of The Definitive Edition is $59.99 (not regionally priced). Currently, you may only pre-order the PC version via the RSG Launcher, but as IDs were recently found in the Steam DB, it is likely it will also be available on other PC distributors after release. Details regarding the mobile releases also remain unnannounced.

Dates to remember

Digital release date: 11th November 2021 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, PC (RSG Launcher)
Physical release date: 7th December 2021 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
Mobile release date: 2022
Xbox Game Pass: 11th November 2021 for GTA San Andreas – The Definitive Edition only
Playstation Now: 7th December 2021 for GTA III – The Definitive Edition only

Main changes of The Definitive Edition

Quality of Life updates
GTAV controller layout
Upgraded weapon and targeting controls
Upgraded drive-by shooting for GTA San Andreas
HD era style weapon wheel
HD era style radio wheel
Upgraded HUD map navigation with GPS waypoints
Mission restarts
New Social Club achievements

Visual updates
New lighting system to overhaul shadows and reflections
Upgraded water effects
Upgraded weather effects
Increased draw distance
High resolution textures across the board: characters, weapons, vehicles, roads, trees, foliage
4K and 60FPS support for PS5 and Xbox Series X
NVIDIA DLSS support for PC
Touch screen camera control and menu selection for Nintendo Switch
Gyro aiming control for Nintendo Switch

Media

If you were too busy consuming all the information from today, you may not have noticed that Rockstar have also updated their official website. It now features a “dark mode” look with an all black background and tiled Newswire navigation, which looks pretty clean and resembles the recently revamped Rockstar Store. They also launched a dedicated website for the GTA Trilogy, much like previous games, featuring space for screenshots and videos, so check ’em all out there.

Discussion

As we enter the weekend, the community is rife with debates and discussions about the changes, the screenshots and everything we witnessed in the trailer. At large, the reception has been overwhelmingly positive as the community reminisces about the importance of these games and are thankful they’ve maintained a look that is close to the art style of the originals, while others vehemently dislike the new character models and struggle to find reasons for why they were remastered in the first place. As always, GTAForums can provide you with both the hottest and coldest gamer takes out there, so be sure to check out our revamped GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas subforums for comparisons, analysis, hypes and gripes.

Quick Comparisons

GTA III

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GTA Vice City

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GTA San Andreas

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