Most Grand Theft Auto franchise rumors revolve around the inevitable Grand Theft Auto 6, but other recent rumors suggest Rockstar Games could be revisiting its classic PS2-era titles as well. According to recent rumors, Rockstar plans to release remastered versions of Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas for modern consoles, though nothing official has been announced at the time of this writing.
Fans should treat these rumors with a heavy grain of salt and a whole lot of skepticism. The vast majority of Rockstar Games rumors and supposed "leaks" turn out to be completely false, and there is no reason why this wouldn't be the case either. Still, rumors persist that Rockstar Games will have a Super Bowl LV ad announcing a new project, with some thinking it's GTA 6 and others thinking it's remastered versions of GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas.
While it's unclear if Rockstar Games actually plans on releasing remastered versions of the PS2-era Grand Theft Auto games, it would make a lot of sense, and here's why.
Pass the Time Until GTA 6
Rockstar Games likes to take its time with its games. It's been nearly a decade since Grand Theft Auto 5 launched, and while the game and its online component are still wildly popular, there's been no clear sign of Grand Theft Auto 6. Rockstar Games has yet to officially announce the next game in the beloved franchise, and at this point, it seems quite likely that fans will have at least another year or two before they even see the game, let alone get to play it.
But while Rockstar Games has not released many completely brand new games this past decade, it's still put out quite a few releases, mainly consisting of ports and re-releases of its classic games. And with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles out now, the new consoles seem to represent an opportunity for Rockstar to once again re-release the PS2-era Grand Theft Auto games. If nothing else, these games could go a long way in keeping Rockstar Games fans busy while they wait for brand new content from the studio.
HD Versions of the Games Already Exist
One reason why a company may be hesitant to remaster its games for new consoles is the cost associated with doing that. After all, upscaling graphics, adding achievements/trophies, and making other tweaks costs money, and audiences may not necessarily be tripping over themselves to buy old video games. But the thing is, HD versions of the Grand Theft Auto PS2-era games already exist and are readily available on both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 at the time of this writing.
It seems as though much of the work is already done, and so the next step would be to bring those games to Xbox consoles and perhaps package them together for a physical retail release. Maybe the games could get further improvements that take proper advantage of the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller's unique features as well, which would potentially convince those with Sony's next-generation console to pick them up yet again.
Rockstar Dundee
Rockstar North is the main studio when it comes to major new games, but there are other Rockstar Games studios as well. And the most recent studio to join the Rockstar Games family is Ruffian Games, which has since been renamed Rockstar Dundee. At the time of this writing, no announcement has been made in regards to what Rockstar Dundee may be working on, but perhaps the studio could take the lead on remastering Rockstar's older titles while the other studios focus on new work.
Prior to the acquisition and renaming, Rockstar Dundee was known for the Crackdown series, having released both Crackdown 2 and Crackdown 3. Unfortunately, the reviews for both Crackdown 2 and Crackdown 3 were less than stellar, and so the studio failed to make much of an impact. Considering this, perhaps its talents would be better directed at remastering older Rockstar Games titles for modern audiences.
Rockstar Dundee has reportedly been collaborating with Rockstar Games well before the merger, so maybe work on these rumored GTA remasters have already started in earnest. Whether or not that's the case remains to be seen, but Grand Theft Auto fans should keep an eye out for more information.
When They Could Be Available
As it stands, it's not even clear that the rumored Grand Theft Auto remastered trilogy is real, so it's hard to say when the games will be out. However, we do know that Rockstar Games plans on launching Grand Theft Auto 5 for next-gen consoles, alongside a standalone version of GTA Online, and so 2021 may already be full-up when it comes to Grand Theft Auto releases.
The latest rumors point to a 2023 release for Grand Theft Auto 6, so maybe the rumored Grand Theft Auto remasters could come out in 2022, filling in the time between now and the new game. Then again, they could come out sooner, depending on their scope - assuming they exist at all, that is.