What can fans expect from GTA 5 Expanded and Enhanced Edition?

Ever since dropping the proverbial bomb on the fanbase with an announcement for GTA 5 "Expanded and Enhanced Edition," Rockstar has been quiet on that front. The game is scheduled for release in the second half of 2021, which is vague as it gets, with no exact dates confirmed yet.

As summer rolls around, fans have been expecting some kind of information as to what to expect from the "Expanded and Enhanced" version of GTA 5. The most optimistic of the bunch are hedging their bets on a single-player expansion in the same vein as Episodes from Liberty City.

One of the major reasons why there has been so much confusion surrounding GTA 5's remaster is that there are not many references to draw from.

Rockstar typically isn't all that active with remasters. And all players have to go on right now are Take-Two Interactive CEO's comments that the game won't be a "simple port."

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GTA 5 Expanded and Enhanced Edition: What can fans expect?

All fans can currently draw from is Rockstar's previous remaster of GTA 5 for the PS4/Xbox One. Initially released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2013, GTA 5 was later released for the PS4/Xbox One and PC and included a bunch of new features.

Easily the biggest improvement was the visuals, which received a massive upgrade, taking full advantage of the powerful new hardware. In addition, it includes the following features:

1. More control over aim settings
2. First-person mode
3. Larger lobbies in GTA Online (Heists update)
4. New music/radio stations
5. New outfits and vehicles

The first-person mode, in particular, garnered a lot of praise as it was clearly the most significant addition to the game. Fans will be expecting similar changes but times ten since the hardware on next-gen consoles is absolutely staggering.

Perhaps a single-player expansion might go a long way in winning back many players who felt dismayed at the prospect of a remaster. Major speculation and conversation on the internet seems to theorize that this remaster is essentially Rockstar's trial run with next-gen development kits.

Developing games for an entirely new generation of consoles is incredibly hard, as evidenced by the problems surrounding the PS3 at the time of launch. The PS3 dev kit was notoriously hard to develop games on, causing massive problems within the industry.

So far, no such issues with the PS5 have appeared. But seeing how dedicated Rockstar is to quality regarding the GTA franchise, they are not looking to take any risks. Therefore, it seems only logical that GTA 5's remaster is essentially a way for Rockstar to familiarize themselves with the new dev kits.