Rockstar Games reports that its launcher is back online, but that the remasters of GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas are not yet available for purchase or play again. The publisher says they need some time to “delete files that accidentally ended up in the games.”
The return of the launcher means that other games that depend on it, such as Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA V’s multiplayer, will be playable again. Rockstar Games does not give a concrete indication of when the games will be available and playable again, but only keeps it ‘soon’. In the meantime, Rockstar seems to be giving buyers of the remasters their money back on request.
Rockstar does not report what kind of files are involved. Including Vadim M. writes on Twitter that the games shipped with the main.scm file, an uncompiled file that lists what missions and scripts failed the final game, and what notes Rockstar North made while developing the original games. Vadim M. calls it ‘a gold mine for those who like behind the scenes stuff’.
Furthermore, the games also contain music tracks that the creators no longer have the license to add. The songs will not be played in the games, but there is no doubt that it is problematic to distribute them in this way without permission.
The remasters also have multi-platform performance issues, some character models appear to have gone backwards instead of forward, and there are major graphical issues, such as extremely poor visibility when it rains in San Andreas.
The remasters are available for the PC, PlayStation and Xbox consoles, and the Nintendo Switch. The physical versions of the games should be released on December 6. The remasters will also come to iOS and Android next year.