GTA The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition arrives on Steam with Steam Deck support
The GTA Definitive Trilogy is now on Steam, Playable on Steam Deck and with achievements. What’s included, its rocky launch and whether it’s worth it today.
This article is from January 19, 2023. Some details may have changed since then.
Add GTA House as a preferred news sourceSee more of our GTA, Red Dead and Rockstar Games news on Google.Add on Google (opens in a new tab)A little over a year after its debut, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition landed on Steam on January 19, 2023. Until then, the only way to buy it on PC was the Rockstar Games Launcher. The Steam version is Playable on Steam Deck and supports achievements, and Rockstar marked the occasion with a publisher sale on Valve’s store.
What’s included
The bundle collects remasters of the three PS2-era GTAs:
- GTA III (2001): Liberty City and Claude’s revenge.
- GTA: Vice City (2002): Tommy Vercetti in eighties Miami.
- GTA: San Andreas (2004): CJ, Grove Street and the whole state of San Andreas.
All with modern controls, graphics and lighting upgrades and other tweaks over the originals.
Where else you can play it
Besides Steam and the Rockstar Games Launcher, the Definitive Trilogy is on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. In the same announcement, Rockstar said it would reach the Epic Games Store later that January, although outlets such as Sportskeeda reported that release was pushed back without an official explanation; it finally arrived in mid-February.
A troubled launch
The Definitive Trilogy came out in November 2021 to heavy criticism: graphical bugs, technical glitches and changes fans disliked led to several patches. It was developed by Grove Street Games, the studio behind the original games’ mobile ports, whose code served as the base according to specialist press. Adding to the controversy, the classic versions were pulled from digital stores in the months before, leaving many players with no alternative. Later on, Rockstar even removed the studio’s name from the start-up screen, as outlets like TheGamer reported.
Is it worth it on Steam?
Our take: if you play on PC, Steam is the most convenient option thanks to achievements, library integration and, above all, the Steam Deck, where these games fit especially well given their length and pace. Patches have greatly improved the launch state, though anyone after the exact 2001–2004 experience will still miss the originals.
What came next
The Trilogy kept expanding: in December 2023 it arrived on Netflix, iOS and Android with a new Classic Lighting mode, and it’s also part of the GTA+ games library on consoles.
