As the saying goes, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. This would be the case forGTA OnlineandPS Plus, as Rockstar and Sony promised fans a big release in PS Plus’ free games for November. In short, Rockstar and Sony revealed that thePS5 standalone version ofGTA Onlinewould be one of the PS Plus games, in some context, and was giving fans in-game rewards to incentivize and celebrate that release.
Then, Rockstar announced it wasdelaying the next-gen releases ofGrand Theft Auto 5andOnline. As sad as this news made many, many understood that development right now is incredibly trying, and once again, the best laid plans tend not to go well. The pre-release in-game rewards are now offered for longer too, lasting untilGTA 5/Onlinereleases in March 2022. This, in turn, was really bad forPS Plus, but it’s even worse forGTA Trilogy(developed by Grove Street Games, which has largely worked on mobile titles in the past, and published by Rockstar Games).
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GTA 5 and PS Plus: The Best Laid Plans Go Out the Window
What seems clear, notably, is how bad thisGTA Online release on PS Plus being delayed is for November. Now, of course, fans will be able to get to experience this in March now, but November was seemingly all-in onGrand Theft Auto. Sony decided to celebrate the PSVR anniversary in its stead, which may or may not have happened ifGTA Onlinewas in the line-up. ThePS Plus free games for November 2021aren’t bad (First Class Trouble, Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning, Knockout City, The Persistence, The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners, andUntil You Fall), but there’s no major headlining PS5 title. That spot would have likely beenGTA Onlinenow.
GTA Trilogy and GTA Online’s Downhill Relationship
To make up for the loss ofGTA Online, it seems Rockstar decided to push out its remasters of the GTA Trilogy. This was welcomed by many fans as more than a suitable replacement, as three classics (GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas) were more than enough to bide the time.Grand Theft Auto 3: Definitive Editionis even coming to PS Nowin December as sort of a “give me” for fans, but the launch for theGTA Trilogyhas been anything but smooth.
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As players dive into the aforementioned games, there have been a ton of technical issues mentioned for consoles such as the games being too dark, frame rate stutters and drops, full-on game crashes, and more. To make it worse,PC players have lost access to theGTA Trilogywith the Rockstar launcher’s release too. While some are indeed enjoying these games despite their flaws, what’s clear is that theseGTAremasters may not have been ready for release. Rockstar should have taken more time with them before coming to release, and that plays part in a really odd causal chain.
Why GTA Trilogy Doesn’t Bode Well for PS Plus' GTA Online Release
BecauseGTA Onlinewas delayed,GTA Trilogy’s release was seemingly pushed up. This initial delay impacted the quality of games for PS Plus in November 2021, but the release itself was being covered byGTA Trilogy. Yet, its launch has been less than smooth andGTA 3’s release on PS Now isn’t going to make that better. And, because of the quality of theGTA Trilogyremasters, fans may be worried about the graphical improvements toGTA 5andOnline. After all, theGTA 5 Enhanced and Expandedtrailer was hit with a ton of YouTube dislikeswhen it was revealed, primarily because fans couldn’t really tell the difference. This could lead to an as-disappointing release for PS Plus’ free games in March 2022.
Though, it should be noted Rockstar delayedGTA 5/Onlinefor a reason. That’s hopefully enough time to makeGTA 5’s arrival on next-gen consoles special, and hopefully,GTA Trilogydoesn’t dissuade Rockstar from pursuing further remasters.Red Dead Redemption 1 Remasterwas reportedly contingent uponGTA Trilogy’s successafter all. Fans will just have to wait for now and see how this overall situation unfolds for PS Plus, Rockstar, and every element involved.
PS Plussubscribers get a handful of free games every month.
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