Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition has had a rough start, with fans and critics alike speaking of the collection's many problems. It seems though that Rockstar Games is taking the fixing of the Grand Theft Auto remasters pretty seriously, as updates to the studio's other titles may be delayed.
The PS2 Grand Theft Auto games are classics in the eyes of many, so to see what became of them in The Trilogy remasters disappointed a large section of the gaming community. From the bizarre rain effect that makes the games at time unplayable, to the inconsistent, and often jarring character models, The Trilogy has a litany of questionable design decisions. To make matters worse, The Trilogy officially replaced the classic titles on practically every digital platform, making a piece of gaming history inaccessible in favor of the controversial remasters. Rockstar Games has since started updating the game, and is going to relist the original titles on PC.
A new report from a Rockstar Games insider suggests the fixing of The Trilogy will impact updates to Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead Online. In a new tweet, TezFunz2 (or Tez2) writes, "Hearing from sources, Rockstar is allocating more resources and devs to assist with GTA Trilogy post-launch development (patches, fixes...etc)." They go on to claim that as a result of this increased development power aimed The Trilogy, the release windows for GTA Online and Red Dead Online's usual updates may be pushed back. Tez2 covers changes and developments in Rockstar Games, recently covering a strange update causing GTA Online lobbies to teleport.
As mentioned, Rockstar Games has already started work on repairing The Trilogy. Not too long ago Rockstar Games issued a formal apology regarding the state of The Trilogy, admitting that the game did not live up to its standards, and has updates planned to begin work at salvaging the collection. In addition to the first update and bringing back the original games to PC, anyone who purchased the The Trilogy remasters actually got the original games for free. Prior to this collection, the last single-player title released by Rockstar Games was Red Dead Redemption 2, with the studio's present efforts having primarily been its online games.
The potential delay of updates for GTA Online and Red Dead Online is telling of Rockstar's concern over The Trilogy. Barring catastrophe, those titles require frequent updates to maintain balance and cohesion as there are always new bugs, errors, and exploits being found. For Rockstar Games to put those games on the back burner in favor of fixing The Trilogy is huge, and is perhaps driven by the company's necessity to save face. While The Trilogy has failed at being "The Definitive Edition," there's nothing stopping Rockstar Games from making that reality.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.