Rockstar Has Locked PS5 Players Out Of The GTA Trilogy
Yeesh, the maligned Grand Theft Auto trilogy just can't catch a break. When you think Rockstar Games has turned it around thanks to the troubled trilogy coming with a free GTA game, along comes another kicker that will leave already disgruntled gamers a little hot under the collar.
The release of Grove Street Games' port of classic GTA games including GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas wasn't exactly one of 2021's big surprises (thanks to leaks galore), but it was supposed to be one of the year's biggest releases. Sadly, we've been left with what is effectively Cyberpunk: Vice City. Now, it's the turn of PlayStation players to be angry.
Why Are PlayStation Owners Angry At The GTA Trilogy?
As the GTA Trilogy finally gets its physical release, PlayStation 5 owners are sad to learn they won't be able to upgrade to the new-gen version. Kind of defeats the point of having a PS5, doesn't it? Rockstar reporter Ben Turpin posted on Twitter and advised PS5 owners to give the GTA Trilogy a miss.
Turpin reiterated, "If you buy the Xbox One version, the free upgrade to the Series X|S version is available right out of the box. Not sure why Rockstar aren’t giving PS5 owners a free upgrade." He went on to suggest Rockstar should scrap a focus on mobile ports in 2022, and instead, make sure the base version of the trilogy is working as well as it should be.
What's even more confusing is that the Xbox One version gives you a free upgrade to Xbox Series X/S. We're used to Sony playing fast and loose with what it will allow to be upgraded, but by the looks of it, free upgrades to new-gen are a thing of the past.
Will Rockstar Fix The GTA Trilogy?
Twitter user Wes Fido went on to share their conversation with Rockstar Support, to try and get to the bottom of what's going on. After asking an agent whether the missing upgrade is a bug, they were told, "No this is not a bug, this is working as intended." Ha, working might be a bit of an overstatement.
Across the board, gamers have been laughing at the GTA Trilogy physical release. Hoping to capture the essence of their original release in the '00s, some of us hoped there would be a manual and game maps included with the physical release. Instead, the box looks a little bare.
The problem lies in the physical copy alone, those who own the digital GTA Trilogy on PS4 are able to upgrade to PS5 with no problems. Many of us were already weighing up whether the GTA Trilogy was worth it, and according to Turpin's advice, we should carry on waiting.
It's much the same as what recently happened with the Final Fantasy 7 remake - that locked PS5 owners out of the upgraded version of the game. Elsewhere, there was controversy surrounding Horizon Forbidden West when Sony did a U-turn on its upgrade path. Looks like GTA is just another notch on the controversy bedpost.