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Rockstar’s Next Move Might Be a GTA 4 Remaster, But a Basic Port Won’t Cut It
We have obviously had quite a bit of Grand Theft Auto 5 over the last decade-plus, from multiple re-releases of the game to, of course, continued and consistent updates what many might call the meat and potatoes of the experience for the vast majority of its lifetime- GTA Online. But go back further in the series’ timeline by just one game, and you arrive at the completely contrasting circumstances of Grand Theft Auto 4. The 2008 open world title was obviously highly acclaimed as well – to the extent that, just like GTA 5, it still stands as one of the best reviewed game of all tine – while it’s also safe to say that it sold a ton of copies as well, even though it could obviously never hope to even come close to GTA 5’s commercial accomplishments. And yet, for all of its critical and commercial successes, once Rockstar Games was done with GTA 4 – which was after two post launch single player expansions, which of course is something that GTA 5 itself never got – Rockstar never looked back at the game again. Interestingly enough, however, recent rumblings have suggested that that could change at some point in the not too distant future. Known Rockstar Games insider Tez2 recently claimed on the GTA forums that a PS5 and Xbox Series X/S port of Grand Theft Auto 4 has been in the works for roughly a year at this point, and that Rockstar likely intends to release it at some point later this year- which of course means that it will release before Grand Theft Auto 6, which was recently officially delayed to May 2026. Admittedly, this isn’t the first time we have had rumours or speculation about a re-release of GTA 4, and obviously none of them have ever amounted to anything up to this point- but given Rockstar’s recent history, there is precedent to suggest that GTA 4 could once again see the light of day. Rockstar has long been in the habit of outright ignoring its past releases, refusing to offer remasters or remakes or anything resembling a re-release even in the face of overwhelming demand. Until not too long ago, the original Red Dead Redemption was a similar case, but with the acclaimed 2010 Wild West epic having been brought to PC, PS4, and Nintendo Switch over the last couple of years, it now does feel likelier than it ever has that Rockstar might be looking to do something similar with Grand Theft Auto 4 as well. After all, that is another beloved title from that same era of Rockstar games that hasn’t seen the light of day in ages, which in turn has really ratcheted up the demand for the game to come back that much more. But if Rockstar does indeed decide to do a GTA 4 re-release, our hope is it’ll be much more than a simple port. One thing most will likely agree on is that the aforementioned Red Dead Redemption re-release should not serve as a yardstick for Rockstar to measure against, because the bar should really be significantly higher. The Red Dead Redemption port really was in almost all ways just a simply and straightforward port. It offered few upgrades, and the ones that it did were negligible at best. The resolution was upscaled, there were some light improvements to the picture quality, the UI saw some minor adjustments here and there- and that was pretty much it. There were no upgrades to the lighting, to the assets or the textures, or anything of note, really. Hell, there wasn’t even a performance mode- even when played on PS4 Pro or on PS5 via backward compatibility, the game remains locked at 30 FPS, which is just a crying shame, to put it mildly. To top it all off, Rockstar decided to price this re-release – which was deemed by many to be a low effort port of a game over a decade old – at a point, which felt unreasonable, to say the least. Thankfully, the package did include the Undead Nightmare expansion for that price, so at least there was no additional fleecing being done on that front. The point being, of course, that Grand Theft Auto 4’s re-release, if it is indeed on the way, cannot take a similar approach. Looking at what the standard is for a number of high profile remastered releases in the current market, it’s impossible not to have higher expectations from a GTA 4 re-release. Just take a look at something like Ninja Gaiden 2 Black or The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, both of which are remasters that released this year and ended up impressing many with just how significantly upgraded and overhauled they were over the original experiences in spite of only being remasters on paper. Go back a little further, and look at, say, Metroid Prime Remastered, or Mass Effect Legendary Edition, or The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, all of which offered meaningful upgrades and improvements that you didn’t have to squint to even be able to notice. While a Grand Theft Auto 4 re-release doesn’t have to be quite on that same level as far as its upgrades are concerned, with standards and expectations for remasters being higher in general, a low effort port for GTA 4 will be quite a hard pill to swallow by many- as evidenced by the disappointment many felt with the Red Dead port. Rockstar has tried its hand at actual remastered releases in recent years as well, of course, though that sadly didn’t work too well. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition launched a handful of years ago on modern platforms and, as most would tell you, did an awful job of remastering and modernizing three gaming masterpieces. Though GTA: The Definitive Edition did definitely put in much more of an effort than the Red Dead port did, the effort that it did put in was lackluster, to put it mildly- and our hope is that Grand Theft Auto 4’s purported release for modern platforms will sidestep those errors as well. The thing with GTA 4 is, of course, that it remains a spectacular game with incredible impressive tech and visuals even today, a ridiculously immersive and authentic urban open world map to lose yourself in, one of the most gripping stories that GTA has ever told, told through who may very well be the series’ best protagonist ever. Grand Theft Auto 4 was an unabashed classic in every sense of the word, so to see it modernized and updated with the right amount of effort and thought put in could be incredibly exciting, not only for returning fans looking to experience Liberty City again, but also for new ones who never played the game when it first came out. Grand Theft Auto 6 will obviously likely up the ante in all those areas by quite some margin when it releases next year, but until then, an enhanced GTA 4 on modern consoles should serve as an excellent appetizer. Here’s hoping that actually does end up happening this time. Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
#rockstars #next #move #might #gta
Rockstar’s Next Move Might Be a GTA 4 Remaster, But a Basic Port Won’t Cut It
We have obviously had quite a bit of Grand Theft Auto 5 over the last decade-plus, from multiple re-releases of the game to, of course, continued and consistent updates what many might call the meat and potatoes of the experience for the vast majority of its lifetime- GTA Online. But go back further in the series’ timeline by just one game, and you arrive at the completely contrasting circumstances of Grand Theft Auto 4. The 2008 open world title was obviously highly acclaimed as well – to the extent that, just like GTA 5, it still stands as one of the best reviewed game of all tine – while it’s also safe to say that it sold a ton of copies as well, even though it could obviously never hope to even come close to GTA 5’s commercial accomplishments. And yet, for all of its critical and commercial successes, once Rockstar Games was done with GTA 4 – which was after two post launch single player expansions, which of course is something that GTA 5 itself never got – Rockstar never looked back at the game again. Interestingly enough, however, recent rumblings have suggested that that could change at some point in the not too distant future. Known Rockstar Games insider Tez2 recently claimed on the GTA forums that a PS5 and Xbox Series X/S port of Grand Theft Auto 4 has been in the works for roughly a year at this point, and that Rockstar likely intends to release it at some point later this year- which of course means that it will release before Grand Theft Auto 6, which was recently officially delayed to May 2026. Admittedly, this isn’t the first time we have had rumours or speculation about a re-release of GTA 4, and obviously none of them have ever amounted to anything up to this point- but given Rockstar’s recent history, there is precedent to suggest that GTA 4 could once again see the light of day. Rockstar has long been in the habit of outright ignoring its past releases, refusing to offer remasters or remakes or anything resembling a re-release even in the face of overwhelming demand. Until not too long ago, the original Red Dead Redemption was a similar case, but with the acclaimed 2010 Wild West epic having been brought to PC, PS4, and Nintendo Switch over the last couple of years, it now does feel likelier than it ever has that Rockstar might be looking to do something similar with Grand Theft Auto 4 as well. After all, that is another beloved title from that same era of Rockstar games that hasn’t seen the light of day in ages, which in turn has really ratcheted up the demand for the game to come back that much more. But if Rockstar does indeed decide to do a GTA 4 re-release, our hope is it’ll be much more than a simple port. One thing most will likely agree on is that the aforementioned Red Dead Redemption re-release should not serve as a yardstick for Rockstar to measure against, because the bar should really be significantly higher. The Red Dead Redemption port really was in almost all ways just a simply and straightforward port. It offered few upgrades, and the ones that it did were negligible at best. The resolution was upscaled, there were some light improvements to the picture quality, the UI saw some minor adjustments here and there- and that was pretty much it. There were no upgrades to the lighting, to the assets or the textures, or anything of note, really. Hell, there wasn’t even a performance mode- even when played on PS4 Pro or on PS5 via backward compatibility, the game remains locked at 30 FPS, which is just a crying shame, to put it mildly. To top it all off, Rockstar decided to price this re-release – which was deemed by many to be a low effort port of a game over a decade old – at a point, which felt unreasonable, to say the least. Thankfully, the package did include the Undead Nightmare expansion for that price, so at least there was no additional fleecing being done on that front. The point being, of course, that Grand Theft Auto 4’s re-release, if it is indeed on the way, cannot take a similar approach. Looking at what the standard is for a number of high profile remastered releases in the current market, it’s impossible not to have higher expectations from a GTA 4 re-release. Just take a look at something like Ninja Gaiden 2 Black or The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, both of which are remasters that released this year and ended up impressing many with just how significantly upgraded and overhauled they were over the original experiences in spite of only being remasters on paper. Go back a little further, and look at, say, Metroid Prime Remastered, or Mass Effect Legendary Edition, or The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, all of which offered meaningful upgrades and improvements that you didn’t have to squint to even be able to notice. While a Grand Theft Auto 4 re-release doesn’t have to be quite on that same level as far as its upgrades are concerned, with standards and expectations for remasters being higher in general, a low effort port for GTA 4 will be quite a hard pill to swallow by many- as evidenced by the disappointment many felt with the Red Dead port. Rockstar has tried its hand at actual remastered releases in recent years as well, of course, though that sadly didn’t work too well. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition launched a handful of years ago on modern platforms and, as most would tell you, did an awful job of remastering and modernizing three gaming masterpieces. Though GTA: The Definitive Edition did definitely put in much more of an effort than the Red Dead port did, the effort that it did put in was lackluster, to put it mildly- and our hope is that Grand Theft Auto 4’s purported release for modern platforms will sidestep those errors as well. The thing with GTA 4 is, of course, that it remains a spectacular game with incredible impressive tech and visuals even today, a ridiculously immersive and authentic urban open world map to lose yourself in, one of the most gripping stories that GTA has ever told, told through who may very well be the series’ best protagonist ever. Grand Theft Auto 4 was an unabashed classic in every sense of the word, so to see it modernized and updated with the right amount of effort and thought put in could be incredibly exciting, not only for returning fans looking to experience Liberty City again, but also for new ones who never played the game when it first came out. Grand Theft Auto 6 will obviously likely up the ante in all those areas by quite some margin when it releases next year, but until then, an enhanced GTA 4 on modern consoles should serve as an excellent appetizer. Here’s hoping that actually does end up happening this time. Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
#rockstars #next #move #might #gta
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