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2021 was a very memorable year for GTA fans.
The Grand Theft Auto series is one of the largest and most successful video game franchises of all time. Naturally, any year where a new game is released is bound to generate numerous discussions. In 2021's case, it was a very divisive year for the GTA community.
Several high and low points were scattered throughout the year, depending on which game players enjoyed. If they were fans of the GTA Trilogy, they would likely remember its embarrassing reputation and critically panned reviews. Likewise, fans of GTA RP would remember it dominating Twitch and specific streamers having funny moments.
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The following sections won't necessarily be done in chronological order; instead, they will focus on every crucial game one by one.
The GTA series' eventful 2021: A retrospective review
Fans' backlash toward GTA 5: Expanded and Enhanced
Although YouTube removed public dislikes, many gamers still remember how heavily disliked the trailer was for GTA 5's Expanded and Enhanced Edition. They could still use an extension like Return YouTube Dislike to see the dislike count before YouTube removed the feature.
In this case, Rockstar Games' trailer had nearly 299K dislikes compared to 63K likes. For reference, PlayStation's video had 266K dislikes versus 36K likes. Both clips were released on September 9, to the dismay of many fans.
Some players expected the game to come out in the latter half of 2021, so seeing news on it coming out in March 2022 disappointed them. Likewise, some fans were sick of Rockstar Games milking GTA 5 for nearly a decade.
Several noteworthy GTA Online updates
GTA Online received two significant updates this year:
- Los Santos Tuners
- The Contract
The first update focused heavily on tuner vehicles. It featured new races, a reputation system in the LS Car Meet, and KDJ and Sessanta annoying players. By comparison, the second update was more well-received, as it saw the glorious return of Frankin after fans hadn't seen him in nearly eight years.
Chop also returned as an older dog, although some gamers were happy to see him still alive. It's also worth noting that gamers could play briefly as Lamar and Franklin in a few missions introduced in this update.
That's still not mentioning all the helpful new Imani Tech modifications, such as the Missile Lock-On Jammer, which harshly counters Oppressor Mk II griefers.
Not everything was sunshine and rainbows for GTA Online, however. PS3 and Xbox 360 players permanently lost the ability to play that game on December 16. Servers for those platforms were shut down, thus ending an era that some players fondly remember.
Unsurprisingly, users could not buy Shark Cards for those two platforms after September 16, just a few months before those servers shut down.
The continual rise of GTA RP
GTA RP has been on the rise for a few years. However, 2021 was by far its best year regarding overall Twitch views. May 2021 was its absolute pinnacle, with its recent downward trend still greatly outranking previous years in terms of viewership.
It's worth noting that these Twitch views simply refer to the GTA 5 category as a whole. Hence, it technically includes GTA 5 and Online in addition to GTA RP. However, anyone could look at Twitch at any moment and notice that the vast majority of top-viewed channels are about some GTA RP server.
GTA San Andreas VR on the Oculus Quest 2
Mark Zuckerberg revealing that GTA San Andreas will be on the Oculus Quest 2 was an unexpected announcement. This event happened around the time the GTA Trilogy started to gain some hype. The above video took place on October 28, although it's worth mentioning that no gameplay was shown.
Other media would eventually reveal that Video Games Deluxe would be working on this game. They also worked on L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files and that game was released to a positive reception.
The GTA series hasn't had an official release into VR yet, making GTA San Andreas the first game to do so. No release date has been officially announced yet.
The disastrous GTA Trilogy
GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas were three iconic and beloved titles for many gamers. The GTA Trilogy tried to reignite that love and turn it into additional sales, but it fell flat due to its troublesome launch. Rockstar Games Launcher was unusable for over a day, such that many PC players couldn't even play the game.
Even after those issues were resolved, the title still had the lowest Metacritic scores for any GTA game in history. Its user score was near the 0.5 range across several consoles, and many gamers got their refunds.
Rockstar apologized for the quality of this remaster and even worked on several patches, improving several aspects of the GTA Trilogy. Unfortunately, several mods related to those three titles were already taken down. The original games were also no longer available with digital retailers.
No GTA 6 news
To the disappointment of many online fans, there was no official announcement or teaser for GTA 6 in 2021. However, several fake leaks riled up the community.
Aside from that, many gamers appreciated how The Matrix Awakens tech demo looked, hoping that GTA 6 will achieve similar results at the very least.
