Netflix has announced the biggest addition to its games offering to date: Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition. First released in 2021, the compilation consists of three games – GTA 3, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas – all remastered with updates to their visual presentation and gameplay mechanics. It will be released on 14 December 2023.
Grand Theft Auto 3 defined the open-world video game genre when it was first released in 2001, with Vice City (2002) and San Andreas (2004) subsequently striving to set new precedents for cinematic storytelling and living worlds in video games. Netflix will be the exclusive home of GTA: The Trilogy – Definitive Edition on iOS and Android devices, though it should be noted that pre-Definitive Edition versions of these games already exist on iOS and Android.
As with the rest of the Netflix Games catalogue, the game will be available to all existing Netflix subscribers. Per The Verge, the company will offer pre-registrations for GTA Trilogy beginning 30 November 2023. It will be accessible via the Netflix mobile app, as well as through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Though GTA Trilogy is by far the highest-profile video game to arrive on Netflix, the company has continued to acquire the mobile publishing rights to several critically acclaimed games over the past two years, including Immortality, Into The Breach, Kentucky Route Zero, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals and TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, as well as exclusive original games like Poinpy. The company had previously committed to expanding its catalogue by over 40 games in 2023 alone.
In 2022, roughly a year after Netflix first began offering games, a third-party report estimated that less than 1% of Netflix’s subscribers were playing games on the service. Now two years in, the release of such a high profile game like GTA Trilogy is certain to draw the attention of a broader audience, and encourage greater uptake.
Though GTA Trilogy suffered from a slew of technical issues when first released on console and PCs, it still went on to sell over 10 million copies.
Though Netflix is currently focused on the mobile game ecosystem, it is also exploring avenues to play games on TVs and web browsers through cloud gaming technology. The company also has a number of games in production at both in-house and external development studios, with a focus on both indie and blockbuster titles. Former Overwatch Producer Chacko Sonny is also leading a team to develop a AAA PC shooter for the company.
