How Likely Are GTA: Vice City & San Andreas Remasters

There has been a lot of chatter and rumours around possible remasters of two of the best Grand Theft Auto titles. Whether it’s certain features, iconic scenes, or just the soundtrack, people love Vice City and San Andreas above all others. But does Rockstar Games love them just as much - no, scratch that - does Rockstar Games love them more than anyone?

After all, it takes a substantial investment of time, money and resources to remaster a game. Even more if they were to remake them. So Rockstar would need to either love the games more than anyone or would need a guarantee that they would sell.

Grand Theft Auto has always been a successful series. The original release of Grand Theft Auto V sold 11 million copies in 24 hours, across PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It still earns Rockstar a ton of money every year, and it’s been out for eight years. Of course, we’re a couple of years off of a 10th anniversary re-re-re-re-release, but that leaves the stage open for something else. They have to be working on something since Red Dead Redemption 2 came out in 2018, after all.

Let’s take a look at GTA: San Andreas first. It was released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2 and has subsequently been re-released on every non-Nintendo platform since. For its 10th anniversary, it had an updated mobile version released in 2013, and a remaster released in 2014 for Xbox 360. That is the version available on current-gen and last-gen consoles through backwards compatibility.

Now let’s take a look at GTA: Vice City. Originally released in 2002, it has its 20th anniversary coming up. For its 10th anniversary, it had a release on iOS and Android - but not on Xbox 360. In fact, it’s only available on PlayStation consoles (through backwards compatibility), mobile and PC, unless you dig out your original Xbox.

Then we have the fact that Rockstar Games’ parent company Take-Two Interactive has announced that it will release three “iterations of previously released titles” coming out in the next year. Of course, Rockstar Games isn’t the only company operated by Take-Two, who also oversee 2K and Private Division, so it’s entirely possible that it’s a BioShock trilogy coming our way.

But the nicer thing would be a Switch and Xbox X|S release for Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, wouldn’t it? And if they’re bringing it to Switch with some smoother controls and updated graphics, why not bring Grand Theft Auto III and San Andreas? Yes, Grand Theft Auto V does feature the same landmass as San Andreas, and Grand Theft Auto IV was set in Liberty City, but they didn’t have the same stories - and that’s what I’d want to revisit. It’s highly likely that this is what we’re going to get.

And while they are at it, put Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories on there too. I never got around to finishing those on the PlayStation Portable and they never got PC or Xbox releases either.