Fans of the Grand Theft Auto trilogy could be in for another round of disappointment, as the physical edition of the game has leaked, and it is disappointing. Rockstar Games released a digital-only version of the GTA trilogy in November and promised a physical version a month later. Now that the physical version is almost here, many are discovering that it falls short of Rockstar’s prior physical game releases.
Since its inception, Rockstar fans have been dissatisfied with the GTA trilogy. The collection was initially released in a flawed state, leaving many disappointed with the improved versions of some of gaming’s most enduring classics. Not only were glitches and even the art style a source of controversy, but many were also critical of Rockstar’s handling of the game’s launch. The developer withdrew the trilogy’s original editions from PC for about a month, momentarily delisted the remastered trilogy after detecting file corruption concerns, and didn’t do much marketing for the collection before release. Needless to say, it’s been the most difficult launch in recent memory for Rockstar.
Additionally, many wanting to obtain a tangible copy of the game were disappointed. Rockstar delayed the physical releases of the GTA trilogy for unclear reasons, and now that they’re almost here, it doesn’t look that the wait was worthwhile. Reddit user WadieXkiller posted a video of someone opening a leaked physical copy of the Grand Theft Auto trilogy. Regrettably, there is no significant fanfare. There is no map, no poster, and no booklet; all that is included is a fairly generic-looking DVD.
This may not appear unusual to some. Nowadays, the majority of games are packaged in this manner, with little work expended. Nonetheless, Rockstar has almost always included a poster and map with their open-world games, most recently with Red Dead Redemption 2. Given that fans have already endured a slew of errors in the GTA trilogy, this is even another reason to be disappointed by the collection. While expecting Rockstar to pack three maps into the box is asking a lot, something like a poster would have been a reasonable compromise.
It is unknown whether this is yet another indication that Rockstar released this collection earlier than expected. It’s possible that the creator had no intention of including any additional goodies with this edition of the GTA trilogy. Rockstar will re-release Grand Theft Auto 5 for Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 in March 2022, and it remains to be seen whether the company will include a map of San Andreas or a poster, as was the case with the original releases.
