Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced has achieved an unthinkable Steam record

Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced has achieved what’s undoubtedly an unwanted milestone less than a week after it landed on Steam.

Released on March 4 for Valve’s platform, GTA V Enhanced delivers the same technical improvements as the console version released in 2022, including faster load times and superior visuals.

All existing owners of GTA V on Steam could upgrade to the Enhanced edition for free, requiring purchase for first-time players. Until March 20, the latter is on sale for half price.

Despite the discount and it being a modernized version of the series’ fifth entry, however, just 52% of user reviews for the Enhanced Edition are positive as of March 8, making it the worst-reviewed GTA on Steam – lower than Grand Theft Auto III – Definitive Edition’s 66% positive user reviews.

Why is GTA V Enhanced getting so many negative reviews?

A core contention repeatedly mentioned in the game’s review section pertains to claims of character migration between different versions of GTA V not functioning.

“I can’t migrate either of my two accounts…I am sure as hell not going to restart all my progress in online just to get marginally better graphics,” came one negative review, adding “Enhanced should have been an update directly applied to the game we already had.”

“Forcing a large majority of your players to start over while pushing scummy microtransactions is not a great look,” came another.

Numerous reviews claimed that the inability to migrate accounts stemmed from Rockstar preventing any accounts associated with mods from doing so, though this is unverified.

Other recurring complaints included claims that the upgrade didn’t go far enough with improvements. “Honestly, this ‘Enhanced’ edition doesn’t really provide much of anything new. It’s really just a PC port of the console version,” another negative review read.

While it’s officially the worst-reviewed Grand Theft Auto on Steam right now, fan sentiment can change depending on potential patches. Likewise, it’s worth noting that 52% approval, while by no means acclaimed, still reflects an overall positive reception.

Grand Theft Auto 6, the long-awaited sequel to 2013’s installment, is expected to arrive sometime in the latter half of 2025.