Following a summer of legal squabbles, rumors, and speculation, Kotaku has reported that Rockstar is developing a remaster of Grand Theft Auto 3, San Andreas, and Vice City. Fans have been speculating that these games would receive a re-release of some kind ahead of their 20th anniversary, especially following a series of DMCA takedowns against fan-made PC ports of GTA 3 and Vice City. These rumors intensified when publisher Take-Two Interactive gave a presentation to their investors which mentioned three new “iterations of previously released titles.” According to Kotaku’s unconfirmed sources, these three iterations will be remasters of GTA 3, San Andreas, and Vice City, which will be released for Xbox, Playstation, Google Stadio, and Nintendo Switch sometime in 2021, with ports to PC and Mobile following in 2022. Rumored release dates are for October or November. We should take with a grain of salt given the unconfirmed nature of this report, and also because of the volatility of game development at the moment.
For fans of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, this is exciting news. The three games reportedly included in this remaster were the first 3D 3rd Person installments in what would become a mega-hit franchise. While these games have been available officially on PC for some time, the PC ports are widely considered unpolished, and many players recommend using mods or fan-made remakes to improve their stability and functionality. If these remasters are real, as Kotaku suspects they are, this could also be the first time that a main-line Grand Theft Auto title would be coming to a Nintendo platform.
While Rockstar has not yet responded to these rumors, the company has confirmed that Grand Theft Auto 5 will be coming to next-gen consoles in the second half of 2021.