Preview of the Fan-Made GTA: Vice City Stories — 20th Anniversary Edition

GTA: VCS remains one of the most exclusive entries in the series. Officially, it was released only for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2. Unlike GTA: LCS, it never made its way to iOS or Android devices — let alone PC. Of course, modders have attempted to bring the game to the most popular platform (one such attempt), but these projects often ended up as unfinished betas or featured very limited content.

That’s why every new attempt draws particular interest. The team at White Trash Games began working on the port in April 2024, but only revealed their progress in February this year.

Technical Features

GTA: Vice City Stories — 20th Anniversary Edition is being developed using the reVC project as its foundation, though it is not a reverse-engineered product. The mechanics and visual style are being recreated without the use of AI, relying instead on more than a dozen different tools and programs.

The port promises a wide range of features designed to enhance the gameplay experience:

• Localizations:
  • English,
  • French,
  • German,
  • Italian,
  • Polish (possibly),
  • Russian,
  • Spanish,
  • Ukrainian (possibly);
• 60 fps;
• Improved textures;
• Bug fixes and general improvements;
• reVC graphical settings;
• Keyboard & mouse controls, plus gamepad support;
• Replay of the last 30 seconds;
• Mission restart after failure;
• Ability to pause, skip cutscenes, and skip trip sequences.

Content

The developers state that the port will include exclusive content from the PS2 version, as well as previously cut material discovered in the game files (such as character voice lines during extreme driving). Otherwise, this is a faithful recreation of GTA: Vice City Stories, without unnecessary additions or fan-made embellishments. The creators have already showcased a substantial portion of completed content, including weapons, vehicles, and side missions.

Release Date

After nearly two years of development, significant progress has been made. The project is currently estimated to be around 78% complete.

As the title makes clear, the team is aiming to align the release with the 20th anniversary of GTA: Vice City Stories, which will be celebrated on October 31. However, they understand that development may not be finished in time and do not rule out a later launch. Their top priority is delivering a high-quality port rather than rushing to meet the anniversary date. After release, the developers plan to publish the source code, allowing anyone interested to contribute to the project’s further development. But the real issue lies elsewhere.

Possible Shutdown

Following the recent publicity, concerns have naturally arisen that Take-Two may attempt to shut down GTA: Vice City Stories — 20th Anniversary Edition. The trailer remains live on YouTube for now, but there is always a risk of a copyright strike at any moment. Preventing the project itself could prove more difficult for the rights holder, as the developers’ location would make any legal action effectively unenforceable.