Skip to main content

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City hits iOS/Android this December

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City 10th Anniversary Edition
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Can we all just take a moment to agree on one point before we get to the news? Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is, to date, the best Grand Theft Auto title Rockstar Games has ever created. Yes, objectively it features less content than San Andreas, and it’s not as technically impressive as Grand Theft Auto IV, but when has the series ever felt as awesome as when you were driving down the neon-drenched streets of faux Miami in a faux Lamborghini with Simon Le Bon singing “Hungry Like The Wolf” on the in-game radio?

Never, we say, and that’s why it’s so exciting to hear that Rockstar plans to resurrect Vice City just in time for the holidays. In an announcement issued this afternoon, the developer revealed that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City 10th Anniversary Edition would debut on the iOS app store and Google Play on December 6. What’s more, either iteration of the game will only set you back a mere $5.

Recommended Videos

Given that Rockstar created a largely new title for this re-release, it only stands to reason that the firm would want to pack it with new features, right? Of course it does! Thus, Rockstar explains what’s new and interesting about this latest incarnation of Vice City:

This 10th Anniversary Edition brings the full experience of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City to mobile devices, with native high-resolution graphics and several enhancements unique to the iOS and Android platforms including updated character models and lighting effects, new and more precise firing and targeting options, a fully customizable control layout and native support for Retina display devices.

That’s lovely to hear, but we would have been content with higher resolution graphics and the same touchscreen controls seen in Rockstar’s iOS version of Grand Theft Auto III. Prior to that game’s release it seemed crazy that anyone might actually translate the title’s complex controls to a touchscreen device, yet Rockstar somehow managed to pull it off, and Grand Theft Auto III stands as one of the best games to have been ported from a console to iOS. Assuming the same user-interface magic can be harnessed for the 10th Anniversary Edition of Vice City, that $5 price tag looks very enticing.

Earnest Cavalli
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Earnest Cavalli has been writing about games, tech and digital culture since 2005 for outlets including Wired, Joystiq…
Grand Theft Auto 6 just got the smallest teaser, but we’ll take what we can get
Woman in the GTA 6 trailer at a rooftop pool party. She's in a white bikini.

The line between teaser and Easter egg can be extremely slim, and nowhere has that been apparent on Tuesday than this necklace in the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6.

A user on the GTA 6 subreddit (via Gamespot) noticed that a necklace that appeared in the game's first trailer is also now available to buy in the recently-released Bottom Dollar Bounties update for Grand Theft Auto Online, which added bail enforcement on June 25. It's called the "Silver Layered Necklace," and, according to one Redditor on the post, it's just one of many assets that seem to have come over to the franchise's online component.

Read more
Grand Theft Auto 5 and 11 more games are leaving PS Plus in June
Trevor, Michael, and Franklin are all holding guns in GTA 5 promotional art.

PlayStation Plus users will be losing out on 12 games in June, and one of them is a must-play if you're a fan of open-world action adventures from 2013.

Grand Theft Auto 5 is widely considered to be one of the most iconic games all time, and it's definitely the best Grand Theft Auto game. It's also easy to play on nearly any platform (minus Nintendo Switch, of course). It even received a next-gen upgrade for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2022. That said, if you have a PlayStation Plus subscription and wanted to play it at some point -- or just wanted to get a session or two in before Grand Theft Auto 6 -- you'll have until June 12 to do so.

Read more
All GTA Vice City cheats: PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC
Grand Theft Auto City's main character stands in front of a neon sign.

The past has never looked so good. That applies not only to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City -- Definitive Edition itself, but also the 1980s-inspired style of the titular city. This entry was a blast from the past when it was first released, and it's downright retro today. Thanks to the face-lift this remastering has provided, it has never been easier to go back and relive the story of Tommy Vercetti and his quest for revenge in this visually overwhelming take on an exaggerated version of a crime-infested '80s city.

As much love as this entry received when it came out for its story and characters -- it's still often considered one of the best games released on that entire generation of consoles -- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City pushed open-world games in a whole new direction. In keeping with series tradition, which continues to be the case, this title was jam-packed with cheats that can completely change how the game is played. This game has far more than any other in the recently released trilogy, making it ripe for revisiting to see what crazy antics you can cause. There are even a few new ones not included in the original, so even die-hard fans will want to see our full list of all the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City -- Definitive Edition cheat codes.

Read more