GTA: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition’s Physical Switch Release Will Seemingly Require a Partial Download

We recently learned that Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition’s file size on the Switch was going to be around 25 GB, leading many to wonder how Rockstar would handle the physical release of the game, especially given how rarely publishers choose to shell out the money to Nintendo for 32 GB carts. However, even with recent reports that Nintendo itself might be handling the physical distribution of the trilogy’s Switch physical release, it seems it will end up requiring a download after all.

As per the box art of the game found on a listing on Target’s website, GTA: The Trilogy’s physical Switch version will require a download. The label with this detail points to the back of the box for more details, but the back of the box isn’t available on the listing. However, as spotted by VGC, it seems like out of the three games, it’ll be GTA: Vice City that won’t be included in the physical version’s cart and will require a download.

The trilogy’s eShop page lists the release as a bundle of the three remasters, and though neither of them can be purchased separately, they do each have their own eShop page. GTA 3’s page lists a file size of 2.2 GB for the game, while GTA: San Andreas is listed at 10.8 GB. Vice City, on the other hand, mentions a file size of 119 GB on its page, though it also comes with a note (that the other two game’s pages don’t have), which reads: “The estimated system space that will be required to download this game is 6.5 GB.”

That is not concrete evidence of how the trilogy’s physical release is going to be handled, of course – it’s also possible that Vice City’s eShop page doesn’t mention a specific file size yet because that simply hasn’t ben finalized yet. Either way, it does seem like at least one of the three games won’t be included on the physical release’s cart.

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition launches for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC on November 11. The physical version for all consoles will launch on December 7.