More than a year after its disastrous original release, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition—which going forward we will refer to as simply the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy—is now available on Steam. And it's on sale, too.
The Grand Theft Auto Trilogy was a full-on mess when it launched in late 2021, to the extent that Rockstar not only apologized, it re-released the old versions of the games it includes—Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas—and gave them to everyone who purchased the updated GTA trilogy.
The situation slowly got better as patches and updates followed, but one persistent complaint is that it was only available on PC via the Rockstar Games Launcher. That was more than a minor quibble for a lot of PC gamers, especially since virtually all of Rockstar's other games (except Midnight Club 2, which remains MIA, probably due to music or other licensing reasons) can be had on Steam.
That shortcoming is now rectified: The GTA Trilogy is now available for purchase on Steam, complete with Steam achievements and verification that it's "playable" on the Steam Deck. It's also on sale for $30/£27.50/€30—that's 50% off the regular price—as part of Rockstar's publisher sale on Steam, which runs until February 2.
Unfortunately, not everyone is satisfied with the situation. Aside from the addition of achievements, it's not known how—or if—the trilogy has been updated for Steam. Some fans on Twitter claim the Steam release is unchanged from the patch released in October 2022, meaning it's better than it was at launch but still not in a perfect state.
"Sorry for my angry Tweets... just a little frustrated," Rockstar Intel writer videotech_ tweeted. "We've waited for Rockstar Games to address some of the biggest issues with Definitive Edition which have been left unaddressed. And they have the full audacity to re-release the games in that state with no patch is beyond me."
YouTuber Vadim M. said there are differences between the Steam and Rockstar Games Launcher editions of the game, although it's not clear what that actually adds up to.
User reviews on Steam are just starting to trickle in so it's hard to make a meaningful judgment at this point, but they seem to be leaning mostly positive. One GTA: San Andreas user review cited the addition of controller support, Steam achievements, and "stable 60 fps," but threw it a thumbs-down anyway because "the Steam community should not be treated as an after-thought."
If you've got some time to kill and cash to burn but want to see how the GTA Trilogy on Steam shakes out before you commit, the Rockstar publisher sale has some pretty sweet deals on a bunch of other Rockstar gems, including Red Dead Redemption 2, Grand Theft Auto 5 Premium Edition, Max Payne 1, 2, and 3, LA Noire, Bully, and the old-time ultra-violence classic Manhunt.
I've reached out to Rockstar to ask how (or if) the GTA Trilogy has been patched for Steam, and will update if I receive a reply. Rockstar also confirmed today that the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy will launch on the Epic Games Store later this month.
