Why This New GTA Leak Has PlayStation Fans Confused

Grand Theft Auto fans have finally been blessed with confirmation of a new game in the works, but they may have something else to look forward to in the very near future. The website for European ratings board PEGI has just been updated to list new ratings for the original Grand Theft Auto and its sequel, Grand Theft Auto 2. 

As pointed out by VG247, this is the first time PEGI has even rated a Grand Theft Auto game since the mobile version of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories was released back in 2015. Also, it's just plain bizarre that these older titles have been re-rated at all. So what's the deal here?

The first GTA even has the premise of the game attached to the listing, which makes it look even more legit. It's also interesting to note that Grand Theft Auto 2 has a higher rating than the first game. Grand Theft Auto is listed for ages 16 and older, while GTA 2 recommends players be at least 18 when purchasing the game. The reasons for this rating difference is unclear. To be fair, however, Grand Theft Auto 2 did have that horrifying mission where you ground a busload of innocent people up and turned them into hot dog meat for a local psychopath. It's one of the worst things the GTA franchise ever made players do, so maybe that's the sticking point here.

Oh, and the weirdest part may be that both games are listed as coming out for the PlayStation 3. You know, that system that was discontinued around 3 years ago. The whole thing adds up to a big "what the heck" for Grand Theft Auto fans. And trust us, Grand Theft Auto fans are no strangers to bizarre myths and cooking up wacky theories, but this is just a very confusing turn of events. Still, let's take a look at some of the possibilities that this new rating might imply for these classic GTA entries.

The first thing that fans would probably expect in this scenario is some kind of HD collection for the original games, much in the way that Capcom has released collections and standalone ports of the Devil May Cry franchise in the past. However the real sticking point in these new ratings listings seems to be the release date. Both games appear to be slated for release on April 30, 2020. This would be a heck of a turnaround for something that hasn't even been announced formally yet. Perhaps this is a placeholder date, or maybe this is actually a good old fashioned mistake. 

That leads us to the other theory: that both of these games are coming out in the very near future, but not as some kind of standalone collection. It's highly likely that these two titles may be joining the lineup of games available on Sony's PlayStation Now service. 

PlayStation Now allows gamers with a subscription to stream games directly to their consoles. The service has seen some major quality of life improvements since it launched back in 2014. PlayStation Now decreased it subscription prices back in the fall of 2019 and allowed subscribers to download games and play them natively, rather than dealing with the streaming aspects of PlayStation Now. Most importantly, the PlayStation Now game library is regularly updated with top tier titles from PS2, PS3, and PS4, which means a re-release of classic GTA games on the service isn't entirely out of the realm of possibility. 

The games could also be released for the PlayStation Store under the "Classics" banner, which has traditionally brought games like Mega Man Legends and Gex: Enter the Gecko to PS3 and PS Vita owners. Again, though, it would be very odd for Sony to go through the trouble of adding games to a lineup for PlayStation 3 — no offense to all the proud PS3 owners out there.

While the series has obviously evolved quite a bit since the early days, fans still have quite a bit of nostalgia for the first few entries. However, simply due to how weird this listing is, the general reaction on social media seems to be one of confusion. 

"Old games for a last gen system releasing tomorrow I'm sorry what," tweeted one fan. 

This sentiment was echoed by another fan who asked, "Why do it if the [PlayStation 3] is dead at this point?"

All in all, it's a very strange situation and fans are right to be confused. Still, if the release date listed by PEGI is anything to go by, we'll hopefully get some answers regarding this soon.