Rockstar has apologised for the “unexpected” technical issues plaguing its widely lambasted Grand Theft Auto: Trilogy – Definitive Edition release, promising to put the classic versions of the games back on sale on PC and making them free to owners of the remaster.
Rockstar’s Definitive Edition, developed by Grove Street Games, launched last week and immediately attracted ire for its myriad issues, including progression crashes, a widely documented procession of (admittedly sometimes hilarious) bugs, poor performance across all consoles, and a host of art concerns.
As Digital Foundry put it at the time, “The bottom line is that it’s impossible to believe that this remaster was properly tested – and if it was, it seems that the bugs were not addressed by the developer. The end result is simply not good enough and this is such a shame. This is a landmark game and a genuinely important work.”
Frustrating matters further, Rockstar had also made the decision to delist all classic releases of GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas, meaning its shoddy remaster was the only way to experience three of gaming’s most celebrated titles for those that hadn’t purchased copies prior to the originals’ delisting.