On the 11th of November of this year, the gaming community was offered a trip down memory lane when Rockstar released the definitive edition of 3 of its games (GTA san Andreas, GTA III, GTA Vice City). These games were a big part of our childhoods, and made going to the "cyber" hall feel like entering a realm away from reality, a realm where peace infused chaos was more beautiful than ever. Where the guy who knew cheat codes was the closest we had to a sage. A realm of infinite fun. well, until our mothers came looking for us and drag us home by the ear.
But this trip down memory lane soon turned into a bitter reality, where nostalgia was nothing but a myth and smoke. The definitive edition was plagued with bugs, visual defects, less than satisfying graphical details, removed classic soundtracks, and broken textures. Plus a plethora of small and big issues that eventually led Rockstar to pull the game from their store page on PC.
Let's take a step back from this bumpy nostalgia trip, and take a look at the real cash cow that Rockstar is still capitalizing on till this day, GTA online.
On September 13th of 2013, the world had seen a record breaking phenomenon which is GTA5. By 2020 the game cashed in over 6 billion dollars for the New York City based studio. Besides, According to a study by NetBet, GTA 5 generated about $911 million in 2020 alone. That money was earned through the game sales, plus the micro transactions that players purchase in order to have an advantage in the game such as buying vehicles and weapons And eventually evade and escape the grind based system in order to actually enjoy the game. The game itself was remastered through three generations of consoles. It started with the PS3 and Xbox 360, then went on the PS4 and the Xbox one, all the way to the PS5 and Xbox series X and series S. This goes to prove that the game is the ultimate cash cow.
All of these factors made the Rockstar fan base frustrated. And that's without mentioning the continuous DLCs and updates that costs them even more money just to catch up to whatever content had been dropped in DLC or update. It also led them to hope in a new game that can truly utilize the potential of the new generation consoles.
There's no denial that Rockstar is a cultural phenomenon and that they're one of the biggest players in the game. Their record breaking games are nothing but iconic and nostalgic. Games such as GTA San Andreas, Red Dead redemption 1 and 2, Bully and LA Noire left their mark in the gaming culture. I myself had the most spectacular times playing their games, breaking sweat trying to complete the hard missions and shedding tears at the ending of both RDR and RDR2. But the actions of Rockstar made doubt slither into my heart, and forced me and countless other gamer to point fingers at a studio that once was my favorite.
Now i leave you dear reader to pounder these questions. Did Rockstar turn into a cash hungry entity? Or are they secretly developing another record breaking game? Are they recycling games and cashing on the Golden goose? Or did they simply ran out of good ideas?