Yesterday, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – Final Edition disappeared from sale on PC less than 24 hours after launch. At the same time, the Rockstar Games launcher also goes offline – the only place where the PC version is available.
Now, the launcher is back, but Definitive Editions still can’t be purchased or played while Rockstar “removes unintentional files contained in these versions.”
It’s fascinating to wonder, when renovators disappear, is it their fault? is an ugly, messy mess. That’s not the reason Rockstar gave on Twitter:
The Rockstar Game Launcher is now online, but GTA: The Trilogy – Final Edition is not available to play or purchase because we accidentally deleted files included in these versions. We apologize for the disruption and hope to have a fix soon. https://t.co/NiMNXUKCVh
– Rockstar Support (@RockstarSupport) November 13, 2021
“The Rockstar Game Launcher is now online, but GTA: The Trilogy – Final Edition is not available to play or purchase because we delete files accidentally included in these versions,” the announcement said. “We regret the disruption and hope to have solutions soon.”
Immediately after the release, a data expert discovered that the PC release shipping with songs was cut from the game due to licensing issues. The game doesn’t play these songs, but they’re still among the files. Another player also detected uncompiled code among the files, allowing anyone to see, for example, comments left by the developers of the original game.
This isn’t the first time Rockstar has had issues with “cropped content” still present in the shipped versions of Grand Theft Auto. In 2005, Hot Coffee mod “for GTA: San Andreas reactivated a sex minigame that was cut but still on the game’s profile, caused massive media controversy, re-rated in the United States, and was removed from sale in several countries. It’s worth noting that in this case, the Definitive Edition was not produced in-house by Rockstar but was transferred to Grove Street Studios.
I wish the game was back in the store so I could buy it and see the creepy character models for myself, but there’s a particularly grave feeling that the game isn’t currently available to play for those who have already. buy it. What a mess – and the complete opposite of what one would expect from a “Final Edition”.
