Rockstar has reportedly put remasters of Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto 4 on hold, following the bug-ridden launch and critical reception to Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition.
According to industry insider Tez2 and corroborated by Kotaku, remastered releases of Red Dead Redemption and GTA 4 were “on the table a few years ago”, but both projects have been put on hold due to issues surrounding GTA: The Trilogy, a compilation of remasters that launched in 2021.
As per a reliable source with clear accuracy on Rockstar plans, remasters of GTA IV & RDR1 were on the table a few years ago, but Rockstar chose not to proceed with the projects in mind.
The poor reception of the Trilogy DE might be a reason behind that decision.#GTAIV #RDR1
— Tez2 (@TezFunz2) July 4, 2022
Kotaku has claimed that sources with knowledge of Rockstar’s future projects say that the company will now focus its resources on the production of Grand Theft Auto 6. However, the remasters aren’t completely “out of scope”, and sources say Rockstar could still launch them after GTA 6.
Sources went on to explain that Rockstar hopes that shelving the projects will give fans more time to forget the issues that came with GTA: The Trilogy at launch. Server downtime left buyers unable to play the title for the game’s first few days, and Metacritic still lists a user score of 0.9 due to negative reviews surrounding a host of glitches and the remaster’s quality.
At the time, Rockstar admitted that “the updated versions of these classic games did not launch in a state that meets our own standards of quality, or the standards our fans have come to expect”.
Publisher Take-Two’s CEO, Strauss Zelnick, also admitted that “very occasionally we fall short, and I think The Trilogy was an example of that”. However, Zelnick stressed that “going forward, we remain highly focused on quality, and we are exceedingly confident in all of our upcoming releases.”
In other gaming news, Ubisoft has announced a Skull & Bones gameplay presentation, which will take place this week.
