While numerous exciting announcements and trailers came out of Sony's PlayStation Showcase last week, there appears to be a pretty unanimous consensus on Rockstar's contribution — that it is severely lacking. The trailer Rockstar released for Grand Theft Auto 5 Expanded and Enhanced has amassed a startling amount of dislikes, across various channels. Across social media channels like Twitter and Reddit, fans of the series have been vocal about their disappointment.
A mixed reaction to another remaster of Grand Theft Auto 5 isn't altogether surprising, as the game is already available on PS4, as well as Xbox One. Comments beneath the trailer for the PS5 version of the game frequently question the necessity of a new version. While there has been coverage on the developer's exploitative workplace, Rockstar continued its mainstream success by producing Red Dead Redemption 2, which was hugely successful despite the aforementioned working conditions. However, with both industry practices and the quality of the product under critique at the moment, Rockstar's GTA 5 blunder could indicate a larger downward perception of the company.
The Problems With GTA 5's New Trailer
It is not hard to find the source of fans' dismay with the new Grand Theft Auto 5 trailer, as comments and social media posts have made them explicit. The biggest issue is that the trailer has very few notable changes to the game, with a secondary underlying disappointment that Rockstar is focusing on a remake of old content rather than working on anything new.
The realities for Rockstar of how it conducts development in this respect is discussed below, but from the perspective of the fans, the past two years have been difficult for Rockstar Games fans. Gamers are, in general, hungry for new content; This is exacerbated by the release of the latest generation of consoles, the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Fans want content specifically designed for the console they've paid hundreds of dollars for.
As such, the Grand Theft Auto 5 Expanded and Enhanced trailer failed to show any major graphical or gameplay improvements, and instead cites vague platitudes such as "enhanced gameplay," "seamless character switching," and "much more." The graphics look remarkably similar to the PS4/Xbox One version and seem to be well below the capabilities of the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Rockstar appears to still be pushing Grand Theft Auto Online, an online multiplayer version of the game that has been successful since 2013. Admittedly, GTA Online generates significant revenue for Rockstar through microtransactions, so the focus makes sense.
Behind the Scenes at Rockstar Games
To understand Rockstar Games' downward trending public perception, it's worth keeping in mind some developments at Rockstar since the initial release of Grand Theft Auto 5 in 2013. The most notable of which is Leslie Benzies departure from Rockstar North, the studio that developed GTA 5, and the resulting lawsuit between Benzies and Rockstar. During the course of this litigation, which was eventually settled privately, a number of accusations were made regarding a lack of strong management at Rockstar Games, and a more insidiously toxic working environment.
This, paired with the letter from Rockstar employees' wives published during the development of Red Dead Redemption, exposes major problems with how Rockstar conducts business. Many fans have cast serious doubts on how much longer the company can survive with a culture of crunch, with employees putting in exorbitant overtime hours during a "crunch" period before a game is released.
Last year, one of the founding members of Rockstar, Dan Houser, left the company. His brother, Sam Houser, remains at the company. Though the split seems amicable, it does potentially indicate a level of fatigue at the highest level of Rockstar with that context. The constant pressure to create hugely immersive games has certainly been leading Rockstar to a sort-of breaking point for many years. The reception of the Grand Theft Auto 5 trailer at the PlayStation Showcase certainly isn't helping.
Rockstar and the Gaming Industry
The negative response to the Grand Theft Auto 5 remake does reveal the pressure that Rockstar, and more broadly the rest of the gaming industry, is under. The pandemic led to inevitable labor shortages and production slowdowns across the industry, and Rockstar had production issues before this even began. Rockstar isn't the only developer with similar issues, as the well-reported response to CD Projekt Red's bug-ridden Cyberpunk 2077 emphasizes.
The problem is twofold, as the profit-driven industry continually tries to increase profits while cutting costs on labor, as fans continue to drive sales of new and immersive content. Rockstar's decision to again push Grand Theft Auto Online is indicative of this, as Rockstar generates revenue, but fans demand a new game.
However, the majority of gamers are aware of these issues after the widespread coverage in the news. The consensus is that good, well-developed games take longer to make and may generate more acclaim than profit. Rockstar struck gold with Grand Theft Auto 5 in terms of how much profit and acclaim it garnered, but the developer can't ignore the reality that there is a strong desire for new, inventive content, and that costs money and time to make.
Even without the surrounding context, the response to GTA 5's lackluster trailer is very clear evidence of a disconnect between the developer and fans. Perhaps Rockstar will be lucky with another Red Dead Redemption 2 level success in the future, and this misstep by the developer will be forgotten. That being said, the controversy overall that the developer has struggled with is troubling for the longevity of the company, unless Rockstar is willing to make some serious changes.
Grand Theft Auto 5 Expanded and Enhanced will be released in March 2022 for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.