The Dundee studio of American video game company Rockstar Games is currently working on remastered versions of its three classic Grand Theft Auto titles from the PS2 era.
According to The Verge, the titles being remastered include Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
A late October or early November release is tentatively slated for the titles, which could eventually be released for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, Nintendo Switch, PC, Stadia, and mobile phones.
Rumors of the remastered titles have been circulating for a while, but this month Rockstar Games’ parent company Take-Two Interactive confirmed it plans to release “three unannounced” iterations of old games, in addition to the current-generation ports of GTAV, GTA Online, and Kerbal Space program.
However, given Take-Two’s library of games, these three unannounced remasters could feature everything from Bioshock to Max Payne or Bully.
Reports suggest the three GTA games will be remastered in Unreal Engine, with one source noting that they look like heavily modified versions of the existing titles. The gameplay is said to stay true to the originals, while their user interface should also keep their classic style.
The release of the games has reportedly been pushed back a lot due to the pandemic, but the current plan would be a simultaneous digital release for the three titles across most platforms this year, with PC and mobile in 2022.
According to The Verge, Rockstar Games is also planning a remaster of the original Red Dead Redemption if the remastered trilogy sells well.
Rockstar’s PS2 era trilogy defined a generation of open world games and were three of the biggest games on the console. While the three have independent worlds and storylines, they are part of the same shared universe, with certain characters appearing in the three games.
In addition to the trilogy, Rockstar also released two PSP games set in the same cities (one in GTA3’s Liberty City and one in Vice City), which were later ported to traditional consoles.
