Numerous rumors have eventually lead up to a verified report that Rockstar is working on remasters for three of the most revered Grand Theft Auto games in the series. Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas are all said to be in the works for multiple platforms, ranging from current-generation consoles to mobile devices.
Kotaku is reported to have spoken to three sources involved in the project, each of whom say this has been in the works at Rockstar for quite some time. At one point it was planned for the remaster collection to be offered to players who purchased the upcoming remaster for Grand Theft Auto V on the Xbox Series X and PS5. However, these plans changed to a standalone release. It’s also reported that these remasters were supposed to come out earlier this year, but COVID delayed development.
The report also states that that the remasters will likely be bundled into a collection and will be sold digitally on the Xbox Series X|S, PS5, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Google Stadia, and mobile. The PC and mobile version may not be ready until 2022. The games are being remastered in Unreal Engine but, obviously, the team is trying not to stray too far from the original PS2 versions.
Rockstar also seems to have plans to pursue other remasters of its properties, based on how well this collection sells. Kotaku writes that Rockstar is looking into remastering Red Dead Redemption, depending on if its satisfied with the performance of these titles.
The remasters are apparently being handled by Rockstar Dundee (formerly know as Ruffian Games). The studio previously developed Crackdown 2 and helped work on Crackdown 3.
Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two, has been dishing out DMCA takedowns for mods for the older GTA titles, which led to rumors remasters.