The time has finally come — today, on the 20th birthday of Grand Theft Auto 3, Rockstar is celebrating the legacy of the beloved 3D era by revealing the release dates of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition. That's right, dates, plural — and we got a trailer, too.
The release of The Definitive Edition will come in three waves, covering various formats and platforms. First up, on the 11th of November, 2021, the game will launch on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via the Rockstar Games Launcher digitally. Later, on the 7th of December, we'll get a physical release on all of the above except PC — sorry, that platform is digital only. Then, in 2022, the game will go mobile.
The game costs $59.99 everywhere, but there are some other ways to play. If you have access to Xbox Game Pass, you'll be able to play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition on launch, whereas Grand Theft Auto III – The Definitive Edition will hit PlayStation Now on December 7.
The trailer released alongside this announcement also gives us our first good look at how The Definitive Edition overhauled the visuals of these classic titles. We've got high resolution textures, modern lighting effects, new particle effects, deeper dynamic shadows and more vibrant colors. What hasn't been changed is the retro, low-poly 3D look, giving the remasters a nostalgic flair.
What we didn't see, but Rockstar has described in detail, is the new UI system. Overhauled entirely for all three games, the UI maintains the classic style while being much more intuitive, accessible, and generally more similar to that in GTA 5 — the same can be said for the control scheme across the board. Movement, combat, vehicle handling; it's all been updated to be a better fit with modern expectations.
Even so, the developers — Grove Street Games, working in collaboration with Rockstar Games — made sure that all of the remastered titles retained their original, retro charm. Everything that made the world fall in love with these games in the 00's is right here, just a little bit prettier.
