GTA: Trilogy – Definitive Edition Physical Copies Delayed

Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition was meant to be a celebration of their signature series, but the digital launch has been a failure on multiple levels. And now, the physical release of this game has been delayed.

For Rockstar and players alike, this launch has been a nightmare. PC versions of the game originally wouldn’t launch, and Rockstar ended up temporarily taking it off of the digital storefront. Now that it’s back up, however, PC players have been discovering the game is just as disappointing for them as it is for those playing on console.

Why the disappointment? Players have encountered bugs that make Cyberpunk: 2077’s launch look perfect by comparison. On top of bugs that sometimes make it impossible to play the game, players have been dealing with things like audio compression problems and even misspelled words (especially words that are part of the background details).

The biggest offender, though, has been the graphics. There are some rendering issues and problems with things like fog in the games. But even when everything else is working, many players agree that the “remastered” models look downright ugly. In many cases, the original graphics look better in side-by-side comparisons!

Just like that, the remaster of these beloved games helped paint Rockstar as a company willing to put in the most minimal amount of work in order to crank out a mean-spirited cash grab. And now, the hits keep coming, with the company announcing that the physical release of these games has now been delayed.

These physical releases were originally set for Nov. 7. Now, Rockstar promises we will see physical releases for Xbox (both the Xbox Series X|S as well as Xbox One) and PS4 on Dec. 17. Switch owners, however, won’t get physical copies until sometime in early 2022.

But will the game be worth playing at that time? A chagrined Rockstar released update 1.03 yesterday to address many (though certainly not all) player concerns. Now, the company seems confident the game will be more playable by the time these physical versions launch. But only time will tell if many players will still want to play a game with such a tainted reputation.