Over the weekend Rockstar Games announced Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition which will pack three classic GTA games into one with the massive downside of removing the older editions of the games from stores.
Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas will all be removed from online storefronts with the trilogy Definitive Edition becoming the only way to legally buy them.
The removal will happen this week.
EDIT: As of 14th October, three days after this story was originally published, the take down of the original games has happened and they are no longer available.
“With the October 8, 2021 announcement of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and the Rockstar Games Launcher, previous versions and bundles featuring these titles will be removed from console and PC digital retailers as of the week of October 11, 2021,” reads an announcement.
For those who already own the games or are panic buying the games now, these older versions will remain playable even after the Definitive Edition launches. As money hungry as Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive are, taking away games that people already own would be too much of a bad PR move.
In the reviews of the three games we can see some owners warning people to pick up these versions before it’s too late. Steam reviews for III, Vice City and San Andreas are all packed with these messages and pleases for not removing them.
We wouldn’t be surprised if there’s also a wave of review bombing once the removals happen.
With Grand Theft Auto V still making money and being re-released so often we have to wonder how long it will be before the latest entry in the GTA franchise also gets a new edition forcing the current one to be removed from stores.
If we were the betting type we would put money on that happening in the near future, far before the fabled Grand Theft Auto VI or some such other game comes around. Why make a new game when you can keep recycling the old ones, right?
— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) October 8, 2021
