While Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 5: Expanded and Enhanced may not have had the best reception, the more recent announcement of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition seems to have fans a lot more excited. However, Rockstar is only publishing this collection, it is instead being developed by Grove Street Games - despite initial speculation that the collection would be developed by Rockstar Dundee. The footage released so far has surprised those who were disappointed by Expanded and Enhanced, particularly in graphical capabilities. While there's no news about Grand Theft Auto 6, Definitive Edition is the next best thing for a lot of long-time GTA fans.
Grove Street Games has a history of adapting Rockstar games, and the studio's specialty is porting games. Grove Street Games has released a handful of IPs, including Auralux, and was originally formed in 2007 under the name War Drum Studios. Its long partnership with Rockstar has led it to become responsible for a number of Grand Theft Auto ports and spin-offs, though undoubtedly the Definitive Edition is the best received yet. There are a couple of reasons for this, but it ultimately shows Grove Street Games' growth as a developer, and if this upcoming release is as good as fans hope it to be then Grove Street could be a developer to watch closer down the line.
Grove Street Games' History
While Rockstar fans will be most familiar with Grove Street's Grand Theft Auto ports, the developer also released a 2016 mobile port of Bully and a 2012 mobile port of Max Payne. Before Definitive Edition, Grove Street was responsible for mobile versions of Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City's 10th anniversary edition, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
As such, it's clear the company has a good working relationship with Rockstar, so it's not surprising Rockstar would collaborate with it again. However, the Grove Street version of San Andreas, which was also ported to PlayStation 3 and Xbox, was poorly received by fans. This version of the game has even gained notoriety amongst Grand Theft Auto fans as one of the worst ports of the series.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition
The company's rebrand from War Drum Studios to Grove Street Games does put some distance between the brand and its San Andreas ports. Definitive Edition is already receiving praise for its apparent visual remastering of Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas. The major difference is that Grove Street is using Unreal Engine to port these classic games to current and last-gen consoles, as well as prepping for a later mobile release. While the actual quality of the Definitive Edition remains to be seen, these improvements have fans' expectations high.
Another big factor for the buzz this Definitive Edition has been gathering is just how much fans of the series have wanted the remasters. While there is some fatigue coming from the increase of video game remasters over the years, nostalgia is enough to drum up a lot of excitement. This speaks to a larger trend of recapturing the simplicity and escapism of earlier games with current technology. The Grand Theft Auto games included in the Definitive Edition are some of the most well-remembered of the series, and with the exhaustion of GTA 5 and absence of GTA 6 news, this remaster has seemingly evoked the most positive reaction to any Rockstar news of late.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition is set to release November 11 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.