How different will GTA 5's Expanded and Enhanced edition be?

At the point of GTA 5's release on next-gen consoles, the game would become one of the rarer titles in the history of video games to have been released on three generations of consoles. That in itself is quite a feat and a testament to just how incredibly successful GTA 5 has been for Rockstar Games.

Take-Two Interactive CEO revealed to the press that GTA 5 sold more copies in December 2020 than any other period since the game's launch. To put that into context, it has been seven years since the game came out, and it still manages to sell incredibly well today.

That's why it's no surprise that Rockstar will be looking to maintain their stronghold over the industry with a re-release of the game. Take-Two has been reasonably vocal regarding the fact that Rockstar doesn't do "simple ports" but rather make meaningful changes and work on a remaster quite thoroughly.

This might be really positive for the fan perception regarding the re-release, as many have been skeptical about whether Rockstar would make any meaningful changes.

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GTA 5's Expanded and Enhanced edition: How different will it be?

While the news of the remaster was met with more negative feelings than positive ones, this isn't the first remaster that GTA 5 will receive. Originally released for the PS3 and Xbox 360, the then-next-gen PS4 and Xbox One received a remaster of the game in 2015.

The new version on the PS4/Xbox One included the following new features:

1. First-person mode
2. Better aiming
3. New outfits and vehicles
4. New radio stations
5. Larger lobbies in GTA Online

While quite a significant step-up from the PS3/Xbox 360 version, fans are concerned whether the PS5/Xbox Series X version will include enough new things. Players will need a significant amount of changes and improvements to warrant a purchase of GTA 5's Expanded and Enhanced edition.

New structs added with #GTAOnline recent update, found by @alloc8or, suggest that we might see the enhanced edition utilizing RDR2's RAGE version.Also, a struct called "CHasCharacterToTransferDecisionPage" seems to imply the enhanced edition will feature character transfer.

— Tez2 (@TezFunz2) January 10, 2021

With next-gen hardware looking mighty impressive, one would expect Rockstar to utilize the power of the new consoles to their maximum potential. While GTA Online will definitely see a lot of improvements as a standalone title, fans are concerned about whether the Story Mode will receive any new features.

Earlier this year, eagle-eyed GTA players and modders discovered "structs" within the game mode that suggests a couple of neat things:

1. Players will be able to transfer their character and progress from last-gen consoles.
2. GTA 5 on next-gen consoles will utilize Red Dead Redemption 2's version of the RAGE engine.

The latter seems to have generated a lot of buzz and excitement within the community as that particular version of Rockstar's proprietary game engine is its finest version yet.

Players are excited to see how the new engine will affect things in GTA 5 and whether it means it will make changes to the physics and the visuals. With the game scheduled for release in the second half of 2021, Rockstar is likely holding off on an announcement until further down the line, possibly post-summer.