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GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition: Dates, Scores, Fixes

Every version of the 2021 GTA Trilogy remaster with its date, platform and score, plus the apology, the patch record and where it is sold today.

By GTA VI Forum Desk - Published Oct 12, 2026 - 9 min read

Rockstar publicly apologized for the Definitive Edition eight days after it launched. It arrived on Nov 11 2021, drew the lowest Metascores in the series, and then spent three years being repaired. This page answers one question with dates: how did a broken remaster turn into a product that is still sold on six storefronts and inside a subscription in October 2026? The answer is that it never stopped shipping new versions. Six separate releases, four title updates and a two-year Netflix run kept it on the market long enough to be fixed.

At a glance

ItemDetailSource
ReleasedNov 11 2021, digitalTake-Two 8-K, Nov 3 2021
Platforms at launchPS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC (Rockstar Games Launcher)Take-Two 8-K, Nov 3 2021
ContentsGTA III, Vice City, San AndreasXbox Wire, Oct 22 2021
Adapted byGrove Street Games, in Unreal EngineXbox Wire; Rockstar Store
Mobile versionsDec 14 2023, iOS and Android, through NetflixNetflix, Nov 29 2023
Best Metascore56 (Xbox Series X, 11 reviews)Metacritic
US list price today$59.99 on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, Steam and Rockstar Storestores, checked Oct 11 2026
SubscriptionGTA+ Games LibraryRockstar GTA+ page, checked Oct 11 2026

What is counted, and how

Dates come from Take-Two's earnings releases filed with the SEC, Xbox Wire and the PlayStation Blog, and Netflix's own newsroom. Patch dates come from the outlets that published Rockstar's notes the day each update went live, because Rockstar Support refused our connection. We did not open Rockstar Support or Rockstar's Newswire copy of the apology; the apology text below is Gematsu's full reprint of Rockstar's letter. Scores are Metacritic as shown on Oct 11 2026. Prices are US storefront prices checked the same day.

Gaps are counted in calendar days from Nov 11 2021, by script. Example: the apology came on Nov 19 2021, and 19 - 11 = 8 days. Title update 1.112 arrived Nov 12 2024: 365 days to Nov 11 2022, 365 more to Nov 11 2023, 366 to Nov 11 2024 (2024 is a leap year), plus 1 day, for 1,097 days.

Left out: sales (Take-Two never published a unit figure for the Definitive Edition, only that it was among its largest contributors to net bookings in the Dec 2021 and Mar 2022 quarters), user scores, and the unofficial community lists of changes in each patch. For the original games, read /library/gta-iii, /library/gta-vice-city and /library/gta-san-andreas.

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Every version, dated and scored

This is the table no other page on this site has: every way the Definitive Edition has shipped, when, and how critics scored that version.

VersionPlatformDateMetascore (reviews)Source
Digital launchPS5Nov 11 202154 (47)Take-Two 8-K; Metacritic
Digital launchPS4Nov 11 2021tbd (1)Take-Two 8-K; Metacritic
Digital launchXbox Series X|SNov 11 202156 (11)Take-Two 8-K; Metacritic
Digital launchXbox OneNov 11 2021tbd (2)Take-Two 8-K; Metacritic
Digital launchSwitchNov 11 202146 (15)Take-Two 8-K; Metacritic
Digital launchPC, Rockstar Games LauncherNov 11 202149 (8)Take-Two 8-K; Metacritic
PhysicalPS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series XDec 17 2021 (planned Dec 7)same as digitalTake-Two 8-K, Feb 7 2022
PhysicalSwitchFeb 11 2022 (US)same as digitalTake-Two 8-K, May 16 2022
SteamPCJan 19 2023same as PCSteam app details
Mobile, via NetflixiOS, AndroidDec 14 2023not scoredNetflix, Nov 29 2023
Mobile, sold by RockstariOSon sale Oct 11 2026 (start date not confirmed)not scoredApp Store; PocketGamer.biz

Three readings.

The physical release slipped twice. Xbox Wire and the PlayStation Blog both said Dec 7. Take-Two's Feb 7 2022 release says consoles got physical copies on Dec 17, 10 days late, and the Switch cartridge followed on Feb 11 2022, 92 days after the digital launch.

Mobile took 763 days, not a few months. Gematsu's Nov 2021 story put iOS and Android in early 2022. Take-Two's Feb 2022 release said the first half of calendar 2022. Its May and Aug 2022 releases moved it to fiscal 2023, which ended Mar 31 2023. It actually shipped on Dec 14 2023, through Netflix.

Every scored platform sits between 46 and 56. The originals scored 95 to 97 on PS2, per that page. The full comparison across the series is on /library/gta-review-scores; this page does not repeat it.

The setup

Rockstar announced the release date on Oct 22 2021. The pitch, per Xbox Wire, was "GTAV-inspired" controls, a rebuilt lighting system, new textures, higher draw distances and new foliage, while "maintaining their distinct original aesthetic". The San Andreas remaster joined Xbox Game Pass on launch day, and the PlayStation Blog said the GTA III remaster would join PlayStation Now on Dec 7.

The classic PC versions were no longer on sale when the remaster launched. Rockstar's own letter, below, conceded that players still wanted them "available for purchase", and Steam's page for the 2008 PC San Andreas still says it "is no longer available on the Steam store".

The apology

On Nov 19 2021, eight days after launch, Rockstar posted a letter. It said the updated games "did not launch in a state that meets our own standards of quality". It promised a title update "in the coming days", asked fans to stop harassing the developers, and made two commitments:

  • The classic PC versions of GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas would return to the Rockstar Store as a bundle.
  • Anyone who bought the Definitive Edition for PC from the Rockstar Store through Jun 30 2022 would get those classic versions free in the Rockstar Games Launcher.

The first commitment still holds. On Oct 11 2026 the Rockstar Store sells "Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy", the classic PC bundle credited to Rockstar North, for $29.99, half the remaster's price.

The patch record

UpdateDate livePlatformsDays after launchWhat the notes saySource
1.02Nov 20 2021 (Xbox), Nov 23 2021 (Switch)all9bug fixes across all three gamesPure Xbox; Nintendo Life
1.03Nov 30 2021PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC; Switch later19more fixesShacknews
1.04Mar 1 2022all110performance improved "across all platforms and graphic modes", plus collision and bug fixesPure Xbox
1.112Nov 12 2024 (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC), Nov 13 2024 (Switch)all1,097Classic Lighting mode, which restores "the look and feel of the sky in the original games", plus fixesNintendo Life; Nintendo Everything

The quiet stretch between 1.04 and 1.112 lasted 987 days. The last update borrowed from the mobile versions: What's on Netflix reported that the lighting changes in the 2024 console update were first implemented in the Netflix ports.

Reception

Metacritic lists 46 to 56 on every platform with enough reviews to score. The PS5 version has the most reviews, 47, for a 54. Our /library/gta-review-scores page has the named reviews and dates. The commercial picture is different: Take-Two named the Definitive Edition among its largest contributors to net bookings in its Feb 7 2022 and May 16 2022 releases, so the poor reviews did not stop it selling.

Legacy

The Netflix detour. The mobile versions launched for Netflix members on Dec 14 2023. GTA III and Vice City left on Dec 13 2024, after 365 days. San Andreas stayed until Dec 12 2025, 729 days in all. The full story is on /library/gta-on-netflix. On the App Store today, the GTA III and Vice City Definitive apps are free downloads with a 30-minute trial and a one-time in-app purchase, and San Andreas Definitive costs $19.99.

Where it lives now. Checked Oct 11 2026, the Trilogy lists at $59.99 on the PlayStation Store, the Microsoft Store, the Nintendo eShop, Steam and the Rockstar Store. PlayStation and Xbox had it at $19.79 on sale until Oct 22 2026, list price $59.99. It is also in the GTA+ Games Library on PlayStation, Xbox and PC, and GTA+ costs $7.99 a month on Xbox and Steam. For every other way to play these three games, see /library/how-to-play-every-gta-today.

Trivia

  • The Rockstar Store page still credits the game to "Rockstar Games, adapted by Grove Street Games".
  • What's on Netflix names Video Games Deluxe as the studio behind the Netflix mobile versions.
  • The Steam app pages carry a separate release date from the 2021 launch: Jan 19 2023.
  • PlayStation's Trilogy listing is a PS5 and PS4 bundle under one product, at one price.

Sources

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