GTA 5 on PS5 and Xbox Series X won't be a simple port, says Rockstar parent company

Rockstar is not interested in making simple ports, which is why you don't see many remasters from the company.

Despite being responsible for some of the biggest, most widely recognised games in history, Rockstar does basically no remastering of its older catalogue. According to the Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Rockstar parent company Take-Two, this is by design.

Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference (via VGC), Zelnick was asked whether the publisher plans to make remasters of its classic games a bigger part of company strategy going forward.

"I’m not sure there’ll be a bigger part of the strategy," Zelnick told investors. "Remastering has always been a part of the strategy."

"We’ve done differently than the competition – we don’t just port titles over, we actually take the time to do the very best job we can making the title different for the new release, for the new technology that we’re launching it on," he added.

Referring to remakes like the recent Mafia Definitive Edition, Zelnick said the company "improve[s] the technology" by upgrading visuals and performance. He also hinted that GTA 5's PS5 and Xbox Series X remaster, due in the second half of the year, will set a new standard for visuals and performance.

"Grand Theft Auto [5] is now heading into its third generation which is incredible," he added.

"It was a standard-bearer when it was launched, it continued to be the standard-bearer in the second generation, we’ll see how Grand Theft Auto does in the next generation. Obviously, I’m confident that Rockstar is going to deliver just a great experience, but you can’t do that if you’re just doing a simple port."

Rockstar, of course, continues to support GTA Online. Late last year, the developer released The Cayo Perico Heist free update, confirming at the time that more is in the works, including solo content.