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This article or section refers to an alternative version of an existing Grand Theft Auto title, developed by an outsourced game studio.
The following content may contradict the original canonical lore established by Rockstar North and the overall quality of the game.
NotDMA
NotDMA

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.
— Rockstar Games

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition is a compilation of three remastered Grand Theft Auto games from the 3D Universe. It includes Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, originally released on the PlayStation 2 in 2001, 2002 and 2004 respectively. The three games have been marketed as a trilogy since 2005 and in online PC gaming platforms such as Steam since at least January 2011[1]. The Definitive Edition was officially announced by Rockstar Games on October 8th, 2021.

The games were released digitally on November 11, 2021, and physically on December 17, 2021, and they are available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC. Mobile versions for Apple iOS and Android were released on December 14, 2023, via Netflix subscription. The PC release was initially exclusive to the Rockstar Games Launcher, with a Steam release coming later on January 19, 2023, and an Epic Games Store release coming on February 15[2]. The games feature "across-the-board upgrades including graphical improvements and modern gameplay enhancements for all three titles, while still maintaining the classic look and feel of the originals". [3]

Synopsis[]

It all starts in Liberty City. With the freedom to go anywhere and jack anyone, the ruthless world of crime is at your fingertips, if you have enough guts to take it.
Grand Theft Auto III - The Definitive Edition official synopsis (set in 2001).
Welcome to the 1980s. From the decade of big hair and pastel suits comes the story of one man’s rise to the top of the criminal pile. Grand Theft Auto returns with Tommy Vercetti’s tale of betrayal and revenge in a neon-soaked tropical town full of excess and brimming with possibilities.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - The Definitive Edition official synopsis (set in 1986).
It’s the early ’90s. After a couple of cops frame him for homicide, Carl ‘CJ’ Johnson is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take control of the streets.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - The Definitive Edition official synopsis (set in 1992).

Enhancements and Changes[]

  • New GTA V-inspired modern controls and gameplay features.
  • Across-the-board visual enhancements, but still keeping the 3D Universe aesthetic.
    • Resolution upgrades and improved visual fidelity across the world.
    • Brilliant new lighting and environmental upgrades.
    • High-resolution textures for characters, weapons, vehicles, roads, and much more for greater detail.
    • Increased draw distances.
    • Enhanced shadows, reflections.
    • Improved water and weather effects.
    • Enhanced detail on trees and foliage.
    • Parallax Interior Mapping for many buildings in all three games. (Not mentioned on the Newswire post)
  • Platform-Specific Features.
    • 4K-resolution support with 60 FPS performance for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X systems.
    • NVIDIA DLSS support for PC.
    • Touch screen camera zooming, pans and menu selections as well as Gyro aiming for Nintendo Switch.

Development[]

In August 2021, a report published by Kotaku detailed that Rockstar Games was developing a remastered trilogy of Grand Theft Auto titles: Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City, and San Andreas, originally developed by Rockstar North. According to the report, its development was led by Rockstar Dundee and uses the Unreal Engine. [4] In September, the Game Rating and Administration Committee in South Korea gave the trilogy a game rating. Media speculation about the game continued in early October after an update to the Rockstar Games Launcher included related data to the game in addition to logos, art, and game achievements.

Several days later, on October 8, 2021, Rockstar officially announced the remastered trilogy on its website and social media pages.

Existing versions of the three games were removed from digital retailers on October 11, 2021. Audiences and journalists criticized the move, citing concerns with video game preservation, a lack of choice between versions, and the potential removal of music due to expired licenses, which had occurred with previous re-releases. [5]

Title Updates[]

To see a list of GTA The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition's patch notes history, see Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition/Title Update Notes

Galleries[]

Screenshots[]

See more, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition/Screenshots

Artwork[]

Trailers[]

See more, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition/Trailers
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition Coming Soon
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition Trailer
Grand Theft Auto III – The Definitive Edition Comparison Video
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City – The Definitive Edition Comparison Video
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition Comparison Video
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition - Nintendo Switch

Videos[]

GTA: The Trilogy Definitive Edition - Opening Credits (GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas)

Controversy[]

In the lead-up to the announcement of the remasters, Take-Two Interactive had been aggressively acting against many Modifications, especially those involving the trilogy titles and their assets, including issuing DMCA takedowns and lawsuits, leading to both speculation of the upcoming release and animosity among the modding community.[6]

After release, numerous graphical bugs and glitches[7], physics glitches from the GTA San Andreas mobile port, and a number of other issues plagued the titles. Switch users found the Definitive Edition unplayable due to framerate issues.[8]

From November 12, 2021[9] to November 15[10], the Definitive Edition was pulled from Rockstar's store and made inaccessible on PC Rockstar Games Launcher after it was found that files allegedly for the infamous Hot Coffee were found in the GTA San Andreas source files, as well as 20 songs from the original GTA San Andreas release that were supposed to have been deleted due to licensing issues. In the intervening time, many customers began flooding Take Two Interactive's and Rockstar's Twitter pages with demands for refunds.[11]

Response[]

Hi everyone,
We want to provide an update regarding the unexpected technical issues that came to light as part of the launch of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition.
Firstly, we want to sincerely apologize to everyone who has encountered issues playing these games.
The Grand Theft Auto series — and the games that make up this iconic trilogy — are as special to us as we know they are to fans around the world. The updated versions of these classic games did not launch in a state that meets our own standards of quality, or the standards our fans have come to expect.
We have ongoing plans to address the technical issues and to improve each game going forward. With each planned update, the games will reach the level of quality that they deserve to be.
— Rockstar Games

On November 19, 2021, Rockstar posted a notice on their newswire responding to the criticism, apologising for the issues and promising to update the Definitive Edition and restore PC access to the original version Trilogy, including gifting the original versions to anyone who purchases the Definitive Edition before June 30, 2022[12].

Oversights and Continuity Errors[]

In addition to bugs and glitches introduced in this edition, all three titles are riddled with continuity errors that contradicts the timeline setting of all three titles and overall logic and sense, completely breaking the lore established in the universe they are set in. For example, Latin American gangsters sporting Africa tattoos, posters featuring modern day smartphones, Madd Dogg and OG Loc CDs being advertised in 80's Vice City prior to the start of their careers, pharmacies selling groceries, old characters looking younger, and more.

Many of these errors were mostly caused by the use of assets and textures from Grand Theft Auto V, a GTA title set in a complete different world (introduced by the series' reboot with the release of Grand Theft Auto IV) separate from the three titles included in the trilogy. Due to that, there are many references to GTA V companies, locations, brands and characters in various storefronts and interiors in all three games.

Most noticeably, all posters of movies produced by InterGlobal Studios found all over the studio itself are replaced with Richards Majestic Productions movie posters, also featuring the names of Solomon Richards and other movie business characters from GTA V's universe.

Some of the changes also interferes with other games set in the same continuity as the trilogy titles - for example, Fort Baxter being marked as a headquarters for National Office of Security Enforcement (which never existed in this universe), which causes a major anachronism with the story of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories and Victor Vance's background story.

In all three titles, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) character models were changed, now incorrectly using the logo of the agency's GTA V counterpart, the Federal Investigation Bureau (FIB). They are still correctly referred to as the FBI by their own dialogue and mission objectives.

Some of these bugs and oversights were migrated from Grove Street Games' previous mobile ports of these games, on which The Definitive Edition is based, as evidenced by many of the mobile version tweaks present in this new edition.

References[]

  1. GTA-TheTrilogy-Original-Steam

    The Steam store original trilogy package.

  2. Rockstar Newswire 19 Jan 2023
  3. "Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition and More Coming Soon" - Rockstar Newswire, Oct 8, 2021
  4. "The GTA Remastered Trilogy Appears To Be Real, And Coming To Switch" - Kotaku
  5. "GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas fans are using Steam reviews to encourage people to buy the originals before Rockstar delists them next week" - Eurogamer
  6. GTA III & Vice City reverse-engineered code taken down on GitHub again by Take-Two DMCA
  7. https://www.polygon.com/22778127/grand-theft-auto-trilogy-definitive-edition-launch-bugs-graphics-pc-version-down
  8. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/review/gta-trilogy-definitive-edition-nintendo-switch/
  9. https://twitter.com/RockstarSupport/status/1459311246789038089
  10. https://twitter.com/RockstarSupport/status/1460037716322795528
  11. https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021-11-13-rockstar-inundated-with-refund-requests-as-grand-theft-auto-the-trilogy-the-definitive-edition-backlash-intensifies
  12. While one of the goals of the Definitive Editions was to allow players to enjoy these games on modern platforms for many years to come, we also understand that some of you would still like to have the previous classic versions available for purchase.
    We will be adding the classic PC versions of Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas back to the Rockstar Store shortly as a bundle. Additionally, everyone who has purchased Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition for PC from the Rockstar Store through June 30, 2022, will receive these classic versions in their Rockstar Games Launcher library at no additional cost. We will update everyone as soon as these are back in the Rockstar Store.
    — Rockstar Games

Navigation[]

[ ve ]Grand Theft Auto series
Grand Theft AutoProtagonists | Liberty City (and New Guernsey) | San Andreas | Vice City | Characters | Missions | Vehicles | Weapons | Radio stations | Cheats
Grand Theft Auto: London
London 1969Protagonists | London | Characters | Missions | Vehicles | Weapons | Radio stations | Cheats
London 1961Protagonists | London | Manchester | Characters | Missions | Vehicles | Weapons | Radio stations | Cheats
Grand Theft Auto 2Claude Speed/GBC Protagonists | Anywhere City (Downtown | Residential | Industrial) | Characters | Gangs | Missions | Vehicles | Weapons | Radio stations | Cheats
Grand Theft Auto IIIClaude | Liberty City | Characters | Gangs | Missions | Vehicles | Weapons | Radio stations | Achievements/Trophies | Cheats
Grand Theft Auto: Vice CityTommy Vercetti | Vice City | Characters | Missions | Vehicles | Weapons | Radio stations | Achievements/Trophies | Cheats
Grand Theft Auto: San AndreasCarl Johnson | State of San Andreas (Los SantosSan FierroLas VenturasRed CountyFlint CountyWhetstoneBone CountyTierra Robada) | Characters | Missions | Gangs | Vehicles | Weapons | Radio stations | Achievements/Trophies | Cheats
Grand Theft Auto AdvanceMike | Liberty City | Characters | Gangs | Missions | Vehicles | Weapons | Soundtrack | Cheats
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City StoriesToni Cipriani | Liberty City | Characters | Gangs | Missions | Vehicles | Weapons | Radio stations | Cheats
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City StoriesVictor Vance | Vice City | Characters | Gangs | Missions | Vehicles | Weapons | Radio stations | Cheats
Grand Theft Auto IVNiko Bellic | Liberty City | Alderney | Characters | Gangs | Missions | Vehicles | Weapons | Radio stations | Achievements/Trophies | Cheats
Episodes from Liberty City
The Lost and DamnedJohnny Klebitz | Liberty City | Alderney | Characters | Gangs | Missions | Vehicles | Weapons | Radio stations | Achievements/Trophies | Cheats
The Ballad of Gay TonyLuis Fernando Lopez | Liberty City | Alderney | Characters | Gangs | Missions | Vehicles | Weapons | Radio stations | Achievements/Trophies | Cheats
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown WarsHuang Lee | Liberty City | Characters | Gangs | Missions | Vehicles | Weapons | Radio stations | Cheats
Grand Theft Auto VMichael De Santa | Trevor Philips | Franklin Clinton | Southern San Andreas (Los Santos (County) | Blaine County) | State of North Yankton (Ludendorff) | Characters | Gangs | Missions | Weapons | Vehicles | Radio stations | Achievements/Trophies | Cheats
Grand Theft Auto OnlineGTA Online Protagonist (Crews | Organizations | Motorcycle Clubs) | Southern San Andreas (Los Santos (County) | Blaine County) | The Caribbean (Cayo Perico) | Missions | Jobs | Gangs | Vehicles | Weapons | Radio stations | Reputation (Arena Points | LS Car Meet) | Content Updates | Events | Achievements/Trophies | Awards
Grand Theft Auto VILucia | Unnamed male accomplice | State of Leonida (Vice-Dale County | Kelly County | Leonard County) | Characters | Missions | Vehicles | Weapons | Radio stations | Achievements/Trophies | Cheats
Collectibles | Multiplayer | Modifications | Controversy
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