In a few days, fans will be able to relive a popular franchise’s greatest hits. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition is bringing Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to modern consoles. This release comes shortly after the 20th anniversary of Grand Theft Auto 3, marking the birthday of one of the most important games to come out on 6th generation consoles. These three titles defined what it meant to be an open-world experience, and fans have been measuring other open-world games and contemporary GTA titles against them ever since. This marks the second time this trilogy has been released together, and this time they're coming with visual and performance improvements.
As exciting as that is, fans can't help but be worried that things won't be the same. Some arguments about the new lighting and character models are to be expected as players get used to the games’ new look. It's the sound for these games that have many worried, as Grand Theft Auto is known for its usage of licensed music. Fans are concerned that the in-game radio stations will have considerably less real songs in the trilogy, and that the soundtracks of Vice City and San Andreas are thus rendered less effective. This fear will likely be realized to some extent, though how much remains to be seen.
Explaining the Use of Music in Grand Theft Auto
Licensed music has been a key part of making Grand Theft Auto feel real for over twenty years. Similarly to how real ska and rock music is used in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Grand Theft Auto is known for incorporating the hits of its time, or the era a given title is supposed to take place during. Radio stations have been a mechanic since the original Grand Theft Auto, accessible through most vehicles. They host a wide variety of genres, and there’s often one dedicated to playing custom tracks.
Ever since Grand Theft Auto: London 1969, the second game in the series, every GTA game has had some amount of licensed music. There were plenty of original compositions as well, but starting in Vice City they were eclipsed by the massive number of licensed tracks. This was around the time Rockstar titles started to sell a lot of copies. From Vice City onward, songs would be worked into normal gameplay and missions, with certain tracks playing automatically on specific cues. One of the more famous examples is Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" playing when a player enters their first vehicle in Vice City.
Grand Theft Auto's Music Licenses are a Concern
It's not hard to see how big of an impact licensed music made on Vice City and San Andreas. With Vice City leaning mostly on license music, and San Andreas having its entire soundtrack comprised of it, the player's exploits accompanied by real-life hits felt like a vital part of the experience. Some of these tracks will no doubt be gone when the Definitive Edition releases due to Rockstar being unable to re-up the licenses. This is currently one of the fandom's primary concerns with these games, as information on them has otherwise been scarce.
The reason why the community is certain songs will be lost is because a precedent for it has already been set. Re-releases of Grand Theft Auto games have been losing songs over the past two decades, and it's likely they'll jettison more with these releases. Grand Theft Auto 4 and 5 have had songs patched out when their licenses expired, and basically every release of GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas have removed songs. The aforementioned “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson is a special case, as it was removed due to being blocked by Sony Music Entertainment on copyright grounds. There's no telling how many songs have been removed or replaced in the trilogy's Definitive Edition, but there definitely have been.
What Rockstar Can Do to Save Grand Theft Auto's Music
However, it's not all doom and gloom. Rockstar Games is a wealthy company, and it can afford to pay for many of the old music licenses again. Not every song can return, but many will, and the feeling of driving around listening to regular music will still be intact to some degree. While the soundtracks in The Trilogy will probably be smaller overall, they won't just lose songs; new songs should also be added. This was seen during the infamous 10th anniversary patch for Grand Theft Auto 4 that removed more than 35 songs, but added 11 new licensed songs as an apology. Rockstar could also commission original music again if it feels inclined to.
Licensed music is important to the Grand Theft Auto series. It has made the games difficult to stream in the modern age, but the large casual playerbase appreciates it. Even veterans still have fond memories of particular tracks playing during key moments. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition will no doubt lose a chunk of its soundtracks, which will affect player perception of these games. The recent removal of legacy versions on modern hardware means some of these songs can only be heard in their original context through emulation. It's unfortunate that this new experience of playing GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas will not be the exact same, but hopefully not too many licensed songs will need to be left behind.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition releases on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S digitally on November 11, 2021. The physical version will release on December 7, 2021.