There is no doubt that Rockstar is betting heavily on the remastered editions, and everything seems to indicate that Grand Theft Auto IV Remastered will be their next move. According to the latest information that I have had the opportunity to see, said delivery will be released sometime in 2023, a date that would place it relatively close to the launch of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy: The Definitive Edition, which will premiere on November 11.
If I’m honest, I couldn’t help wondering what has led Rockstar to adopt that strategy of rescuing, and remastering, much of the installments of the GTA franchise, and I think the answer is simpler than it might seem: fill “gaps” in the market until GTA 6 is ready, something that, in theory, will not happen until 2024 in the best case, although the most recent leaks pointed to 2025. It makes sense, and fits perfectly with the rumors that the development of GTA 6 was being so chaotic that the title was subject to a near total reboot, in what that to history refers, in 2019.
With Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy: The Definitive Edition set for this month of November, and Grand Theft Auto IV Remastered in 2023, Rockstar will have more than enough room to finish GTA 6, and release it sometime in 2024, or early 2025. On the other hand, launching this new installment of the franchise at such a late date should allow you, in theory, present it as an exclusive game of the new generation, Since, in theory, Xbox One and PS4 will end their life cycle from 2023.
What can we expect from Grand Theft Auto IV Remastered
We can be clear that Grand Theft Auto IV Remastered is going to be a multiplatform game, that is, that it will reach both PS4 and Xbox One (and PS4 Pro and Xbox One X) as well as PS5 and Xbox Series X. The version of said game for the new generation of consoles it should work at higher resolution, it would offer higher graphic quality and have a higher frame rate per second. The version that will also arrive on PC should be based on it.
As for the graphical improvements, I think they will be in line with what we saw in Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy: The Definitive Edition, that is, that Grand Theft Auto IV Remastered will improve noticeably in every way, but it may do so while maintaining that cartoonish touch that Rockstar showed in the remastering of the trilogy. I already said at the time that, personally, I did not like that cartoon style at all, but I understand that my opinion is just one more, and that there will be people who may have liked it a lot.
I hope, yes, that Rockstar takes the opportunity to optimize and polish Grand Theft Auto IV Remastered, since the original that arrived on PC it had such terrible optimization that it didn’t even finish going fine with PCs that were way above its recommended requirements. We will see in what state this version ends up arriving, but of course it is difficult for it to be worse than the original game. The source of the news also indicates that Grand Theft Auto IV Remastered will come with the Liberty City episodes.
