Netflix has announced it’ll be adding Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas – in their Definite Edition guises – to its gaming catalogue on 14th December.
The news follows reports earlier this year that Netflix had been in talks with Rockstar to license a GTA game as part of an attempt to introduce “higher-end” titles to its mobile-focused gaming catalogue – which primarily offers a mix of casual games and acclaimed indies at present, including the likes of Dead Cells, Kentucky Route Zero, and Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon.
At the time, the Wall Street Journal reported Netflix believed a more significant gaming presence would help it attract new subscribers and retain existing ones by giving them something to engage with between seasons of their favourite shows.
And now, a little over a month later, the streaming service has confirmed Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas will join its slate of playable games in December, all available via the iOS App Store, Google Play, and Netflix App. Perhaps less thrillingly, all three games will arrive in their much-maligned Definitive Edition guises.
While Rockstar and porting partner Grove Street Games have continued to improve on the Definitive Editions since their disastrous release in 2021 – one marred by a massive amount of bugs, poor performance, and visual issues – their less-than-popular aesthetic changes remain. Still, that’s unlikely to deter anyone who fancies a bit of GTA on the go, especially if they’re bundled into their Netflix subscription.
Netflix has, of course, made significant moves into the gaming space since taking its first tentative steps back in November 2021. Since then, the company’s gaming catalogue has swelled to over 80 titles and it’s made a number notable acquisitions, including Triple Town and Cozy Grove developer Spry Fox, The Walking Dead mobile developer Next Games, and Oxenfree creator Night School Studio – which released Oxenfree 2 earlier this year.
Hints the streaming service had even more ambitious gaming plans came with last November’s announcement it had set up a new Los Angeles studio – lead by former Overwatch executive producer Chacko Sonny – to create a brand-new triple-A, third-person RPG for PC.
More recently it launched a Netflix controller app for iOS as part of a limited game streaming beta with the goal of making its gaming catalogue playable on all Netflix-compatible devices, including mobile, TVs, and computers. Only Oxenfree and Molehew’s Mining Adventure were available for initial testing, however.