Picture: Rockstar Games
Grand Theft Auto was a major coup for the streamer last year when Netflix confirmed at the end of November that it had secured the exclusive mobile release of the GTA Trilogy for release on December 14th, 2023. Now, only a year later, notices confirm they’re leaving the Netflix Games library.
The Netflix mobile ports are remasters of Rockstar Games’ classic Grand Theft Auto trilogy, released on game consoles in the early 2000s. They came a few years after Grove Street Games remastered them for consoles in late 2021. Video Games Deluxe was behind the Netflix versions of the game that brought to life Liberty City, Vice City, and San Andreas.
They are some of the most downloaded games in Netflix’s library of over 100 titles. Still, a new notice within the Netflix app states that your last day to play Grand Theft Auto III – The Definitive Edition and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City – The Definitive Edition will be on December 13th, with the removal planned exactly a year after they were added. A removal notice is also now in the Google Play or iOS App Store description and doesn’t appear when you boot the games outside the Netflix App.
Numerous reports suggest the games will become exclusive to the Trilogy Definitive Collection, which is a paid download in the Google Play and Apple App Store.
Removal date in the Netflix app for GTA: Vice City – The Definitive Edition
A removal notice is not currently showing on GTA: San Andreas—The Definitive Edition, suggesting it will stay on Netflix beyond December 14th. This entry was by far the most downloaded of the three on Netflix. We’ll keep you posted if we learn more.
The removal news comes as the GTA Trilogy has just recently gotten a major update on other consoles and PCs. That refresh comes three years after the trilogy remaster was released and includes some major quality-of-life changes, including updates to lighting that were first implemented in the mobile ports on Netflix.
The mobile ports have received regular updates throughout 2024, including an update on November 12th that stated, “We’ve squashed bugs and made behind-the-scenes improvements to bring Netflix members the best possible gameplay experience.”
These two games leaving Netflix are the first major departures we’ve seen, and they set a precedent that maybe other games are on short-term leases, as we see on services like PlayStation Plus, Xbox Game Pass, or Apple Arcade, whereby games cycle on and off the service. To date, Netflix has only removed two games before, but they were under different circumstances. Game-breaking bugs were expected to be the reason for their removal.
In a statement to What’s on Netflix, a rep for Netflix Games said, “Just like with series and film, games will be removed from Netflix as licenses expire. Players will notice a “Leaving Soon” badge and be notified by the app itself well in advance of removal.”
Are you disappointed to see Grand Theft Auto Vice City and Grand Theft Auto III leaving Netflix so soon? Let us know in the comments down below.
