Original GTA Trilogy somehow has more players than the Definitive Editions on Steam

The original GTA Trilogy often has more players than their Definitive Edition counterparts on Steam. That might not seem like a big deal, but players need to remember that the classics were delisted from that platform. Having a higher player count in this situation would indicate that more fans enjoy playing the classics over their remasters.

This shouldn't surprise some gamers, given the controversies associated with the remasters.

Nonetheless, it is worth noting that the Definitive Editions are all playable on Steam. They're the more recent titles compared to the original GTA Trilogy, especially since the latter is nearly two decades old now. SteamDB and Steam Charts are used for the data in this article.

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The classic GTA Trilogy tends to have more players than the Definitive Editions on Steam

The data from September 27, 2023 (Image via SteamDB)

Player counts often adjust over time. There is no static figure to use all the time, but one can still check Steam DB to get an idea of current player counts. One thing worth pointing out is that the original GTA Trilogy has more players than the Definitive Editions, with the following data from 8:36 PT on September 27, 2023:

• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: 519 current players and 568 in a 24-hour peak
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - Definitive Edition: 252 current players and 252 in a 24-hour peak
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City: 199 current players and 222 in a 24-hour peak
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - Definitive Edition: 85 current players and 118 in a 24-hour peak
• Grand Theft Auto III: 60 current players and 70 in a 24-hour peak
• Grand Theft Auto III - Definitive Edition: 55 current players and 66 in a 24-hour peak

It is worth noting that sometimes Grand Theft Auto III has fewer players than its remaster, depending on the day. That said, San Andreas and Vice City have done much better throughout the past few months.

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Steam Charts data

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is definitely more popular than its remaster (Image via Steam Charts)

The most popular game within the GTA Trilogy is Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. This game has been 2x~3x more popular than its remaster for the past few months, with the main exception happening in January 2023 when the latter title launched on Steam. February 2023 also had a higher peak for the remaster, yet its average player count was lower.

From March onward, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was much more popular than its successor.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City tells a similar story (Image via Steam Charts)

The comparisons between Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and its GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition counterpart are much closer. A similar trend can be seen here, where the remaster was more popular in January 2023 and had a higher peak in February 2023, yet falls short everywhere else compared to the original game.

The sole exception to the usual trends (Image via Steam Charts)

Steam DB suggests that Grand Theft Auto III and its remaster are very close as of recent days, yet Steam Charts data indicates that the latter is noticeably more popular in the past few months. This is the one instance where the newer title typically has more concurrent players than one of the original games in the GTA Trilogy.

Still, the original Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has more active players than all three remasters combined in recent months. That game hovers around 450~500 players, whereas the new GTA Trilogy equals about 400 when put together.

In other related news, there still isn't much known about the newest Grand Theft Auto game apart from some old GTA 6 leaked footage.