Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – Definitive Edition was already controversial with fans before its November 11th release date.
Not only did the publisher fail to release gameplay footage, they enacted a review embargo, meaning consumers couldn’t see the game in action or read reviews before buying. There were also questions about the studio hired for the remaster, Grove Street Games, which had a less-than-stellar track record.
But things have only gotten worse since the game’s release on Thursday, and The Trilogy is getting hammered by fans on Reddit and social media as a result.
For starters, the quality of the remaster itself is questionable. There are performance issues, bugs, and some comical character models.
As fans have pointed out, modders of the previous game already did a better job with their amateur remasters. The same modders that Rockstar went after with takedown notices leading up to release, which has been another major complaint.
The original games were also removed from the Steam store and replaced by the “definitive” editions. Meanwhile, Rockstar requires their own launcher to play them.
Except that launcher went down shortly after launch, meaning people who bought the game couldn’t play it. And when it came back up, GTA Trilogy still wasn’t available, even for people who already bought it.
This GTA Trilogy controversy has served as another “I told you so” moment among the torrenting community, who have pointed to the gaming industry’s mistreatment of consumers as justification for “sailing the high seas”. Paying customers continue to get the short end of the stick, as AAA studios churn out low-quality releases – and that’s when you can even play them.