Image: Rockstar Games

Grand Theft Auto was a major hit for the streamer last year when Netflix confirmed in late November that it had secured the mobile-exclusive release of the GTA Trilogy for release on December 14, 2023. Now, just one year later, notifications confirm that they are leaving the Netflix game library.

The Netflix mobile ports are remasters of Rockstar Games’ classic Grand Theft Auto trilogy released on game consoles in the early 2000s. They came a few years after Grove Street Games remastered them for consoles in late 2021. Deluxe Video Games was behind the Netflix versions of the game that brought Liberty City, Vice City and San Andreas to life.

They are some of the most downloaded games from Netflix library of over 100 titles. However, a new notification in the Netflix app states that the last day to play Grand Theft Auto III – The Definitive Edition and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City – The Definitive Edition will be December 13, with the planned removal exactly one year after they were added. A removal notice is absent in the Google Play or iOS App Store description, and does not appear when launching games outside of the Netflix app.

Numerous reports suggest that the games will become paid downloads on Google Play and the Apple App Store.

Netflix app removal date for GTA: Vice City – The Definitive Edition

A takedown notice is currently not displayed on GTA: San Andreas—The Definitive Edition, suggesting that it will remain on Netflix after December 14th. This entry was by far the most downloaded of the three on Netflix. We’ll keep you updated if we find out more.

The news of the removal comes as the GTA Trilogy recently received a major update on other consoles and PC. That the refresh comes three years after the release of the remastered trilogy and includes some major quality-of-life changes, including lighting updates that were first implemented in mobile ports on Netflix.

The mobile ports received regular updates throughout 2024, including a November 12 update that said, “We’ve fixed bugs and made improvements behind the scenes to give Netflix members the best gaming experience possible.”

These two games leaving Netflix are the first major departures we’ve seen and set a precedent that perhaps other games are on short-term rentals, as we see in services like PlayStation Plus, Xbox Game Pass or Apple Arcade, where games starting and stopping the service. To date, Netflix has only removed two games beforebut they were under different circumstances. Game-breaking bugs were expected to be the reason for their removal.

We’ve reached out to Netflix for official comment on the game’s departures.

You are disappointed to see Grand Theft Auto Vice City and Grand Theft Auto III are you leaving netflix so soon? Tell us in the comments below.