The success of the Grand Theft Auto series is undeniable. As Grand Theft Auto 5 become the most profitable entertainment product ever, Rockstar games can continue to dive through its endless piles of cash in celebration of how well its franchise has succeeded. Another way the developer could celebrate is with a bottle of wine, and in fact, a special GTA branded wine bottle may be available.
Grand Theft Auto 2 turned 21 recently, the legal age to drink in many locations. And if the game wants to, it could drink to a special bottle that was created in its honor 21 years ago, a nice amount of time for the bottle to age.
Billy Thompson is the Co-Studio Director at Rockstar Games Dundee. In a recent tweet, he brought up the fact that GTA2 just turned 21, and also showed off his original PC version of the game. Along with the classic old-school PC box, Thompson showed off a celebratory bottle of wine, with the GTA2 label on it.
GTA2 is a special game in the series, as it is the last mainline game to be played from a top-down perspective, as opposed to full-on 3D. The jump to 3D is where the franchise started to see its huge success, as sales for GTA3 septupled over GTA2. The humble beginnings of the original GTA and GTA2 were certainly not without their success, however.
Many still have a soft spot for the old-school gameplay of the GTA series. Rockstar has toyed around with the top-down approach since GTA2, with Chinatown Wars being the prime example. Many would love to see Rockstar bring back some of its old games and franchises, including a top-down focused GTA game.
There have been rumors that the old-school games could see a return, perhaps in the form of a port or remaster. The first three GTA games leaked from the ratings board earlier this year, however instead of being listed as a PS4/Xbox One game, it showed up for the PS3. So far, no more news has come from this strange leak, but it would certainly be neat to see the games make a triumphant return on current/next-gen consoles.
It's a few days too late to celebrate GTA2's birthday with a re-release, but its never too late to pop open a bottle and celebrate the success of the game and franchise. Then again, the bottle may age even better for say the 25-year birthday, and at that point maybe a remaster will be in store for fans as well.