The November 2024 update removed Grove Street Games’ branding from the opening splash screen of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition. The studio was not erased from the games’ full end credits: contemporary reports said it remained there, alongside Video Games Deluxe. Rockstar’s reason for changing the startup branding has not been established.
What changed in the November 2024 update?
The update removed Grove Street Games’ logo and name from the screen shown when launching each game. Video Games Chronicle also reported that references to the studio were removed from the copyright blurb. Neither change means the studio disappeared from every credit placement.
Is Grove Street Games still in the GTA Trilogy end credits?
Yes. Nintendo Life and Video Games Chronicle reported that Grove Street Games remained in the games’ final credits. Nintendo Life also reproduced a contemporaneous clarification that Video Games Deluxe remained in the final credits. The distinction is between the opening branding and the full credit roll.
Why was the studio’s startup branding removed?
Rockstar’s reason has not been established in the contemporary reports. Explanations such as a branding decision or a dispute are speculation unless supported by further evidence.
#1 Best Overall
- Grand Theft Auto III: It all starts in Liberty City. With the revolutionary freedom to go anywhere and jack anyone, Grand Theft Auto III puts the center of the criminal underworld at your fingertips, if you have enough guts to take it.
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City: Welcome to the 1980s. From the decade of big hair and pastel suits comes the story of one man's rise to the top of the criminal pile.
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: Five years ago, Carl 'CJ' Johnson escaped the haze of Los Santos, San Andreas...a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs, and corruption.
How did Grove Street Games respond?
CEO Thomas Williamson criticized the change in a social post dated November 14, 2024. As quoted by Nintendo Life and Video Games Chronicle, he wrote: “Speaking entire hypothetically: It’s a dick move to remove primary developers from credits in an update, especially when an update includes hundreds of fixes that were provided by those developers that stayed out of players’ hands for years.”
The assertion that the fixes were provided by Grove Street Games is Williamson’s; the contemporaneous reports did not independently verify who produced each fix.
Rank #2
- Grand Theft Auto III: It all starts in Liberty City. With the revolutionary freedom to go anywhere and jack anyone, Grand Theft Auto III puts the center of the criminal underworld at your fingertips, if you have enough guts to take it.
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City: Welcome to the 1980s. From the decade of big hair and pastel suits comes the story of one man's rise to the top of the criminal pile. Grand Theft Auto returns with Tommy Vercetti’s tale of betrayal and revenge in a neon-soaked tropical town full of excess and brimming with possibilities.
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: Five years ago, Carl ‘CJ’ Johnson escaped the haze of Los Santos, San Andreas...a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs, and corruption. Now, it's the early 90s. CJ’s got to go home - his mother has been murdered, his family has fallen apart, and his childhood friends are all heading towards disaster.
What Grove Street Games did on the collection
Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar announced Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition on November 11, 2021. It bundles Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The announcement said Grove Street Games adapted the collection for modern platforms using Unreal Engine.
The November 2024 change concerns where the studio was credited, not whether it was involved in adapting the collection: its startup branding and reported copyright-blurb references were removed, while it remained in the end credits.
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Quick Recap
Rank #4
- Grand Theft Auto III: It all starts in Liberty City. With the revolutionary freedom to go anywhere and jack anyone, Grand Theft Auto III puts the center of the criminal underworld at your fingertips, if you have enough guts to take it.
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City: Welcome to the 1980s. From the decade of big hair and pastel suits comes the story of one man's rise to the top of the criminal pile.
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: Five years ago, Carl ‘CJ’ Johnson escaped the haze of Los Santos, San Andreas...a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs, and corruption.
Rank #3
- Grand Theft Auto III: It all starts in Liberty City
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City: Welcome to the 1980s
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: Five years ago, Carl 'CJ' Johnson escaped the haze of Los Santos, San Andreas...a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs, and corruption.
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