The launch of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy was, for a studio with Rockstar North’s popularity, one thing of a catastrophe. The remasters had been dealt with by subsidiary Grove Avenue Video games and arrived on PC and different platforms with numerous efficiency points and visible bugs, alongside a goldmine of content material that should not have been in there, resembling developer feedback and unlicensed songs.
In response, Rockstar took the unprecedented step of removing the game from sale for a time, which introduced into sharp reduction its resolution to take away the unique titles from sale when the Trilogy was launched. The Trilogy would shortly return in an altered state, thoroughly patched, whereas the original games were returned to sale, and purchasers were offered an apologetic freebie.
In brief, this isn’t how among the most necessary video games in historical past ought to have been offered to a brand new technology of gamers. You may say many issues about Rockstar North, however the polish, high quality, and attention-to-detail within the studio’s titles is why it has the popularity it does: This felt like presenting the crown jewels in an previous takeaway field.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick recently spoke to CNBC in regards to the publishing big’s acquisition of Zynga, as a part of which the GTA Trilogy’s issues got here up. Zelnick appeared comparatively unperturbed by them, and dismissed all of it as a ‘glitch’. CNBC’s Jim Cramer requested about “some defects within the new Grand Theft Auto” within the gentle of Take-Two’s place that it would not launch merchandise earlier than they’re prepared.
“Almost about the GTA Trilogy, that was truly not a brand new title,” says Zelnick. “That was a remaster of pre-existing titles. We did have a glitch to start with, that glitch was resolved. And the title of [sic] has accomplished simply nice for the corporate. So we’re very excited. We now have a tremendous pipeline going ahead.”
The GTA Trilogy didn’t have a ‘glitch’, however dozens of them, alongside a raft of fabric that delights dataminers however Rockstar North would by no means have needed out within the wild. Given Rockstar’s historical past with controversies like Scorching Espresso blowing up into federal investigations, the Trilogy releasing within the state it did looks like a a lot greater subject than Zelnick will enable.
