Few franchises have shaped an entire genre the way Grand Theft Auto has. Developed largely by Rockstar North (originally DMA Design) and published by Rockstar Games, the series debuted in 1997 as a top-down crime game and grew into the open-world template that most sandbox titles still borrow from today. What defines GTA is its mix of dark satire, freeform criminal mayhem, and cities that feel genuinely alive around you — GTA V alone has sold roughly 200 million copies, making it one of the best-selling entertainment products ever made, video game or otherwise. This guide walks through the GTA games in order, covering release dates, platforms, and standout features, starting with the original 1997 GTA and ending with the long-awaited GTA VI.
Overview of the Grand Theft Auto Franchise
GTA started life as a top-down cops-and-robbers game before Rockstar reworked it into a satirical crime sim after early builds proved more fun playing as the criminal than the cop. Its defining mechanic — steal any vehicle, ignore any traffic law, and let a escalating “Wanted” system dictate the chaos — has carried through every generation. The series has run on several proprietary engines, from the original 2D engine to the RenderWare-based tech of the PS2 era, then RAGE (Rockstar Advanced Game Engine) starting with GTA IV, which still powers GTA V and GTA Online today. What sets GTA apart from its open-world peers is tone: biting social satire wrapped around genuinely tight, mission-based storytelling. Also Read: Saints Row Games in Order.
Complete List of GTA Games in Order
This list follows release order, which is how most fans actually experience the franchise. It’s worth flagging up front: GTA’s in-universe timeline does not match release order at all. Several entries — including the London expansions and the HD Universe games — are either prequels or take place in different in-fiction years than when they launched, so release order and story order genuinely diverge here.
1. Grand Theft Auto (1997)
- Release Date: November 28, 1997
- Platforms: MS-DOS, PC, PlayStation
- Engine: Proprietary 2D engine
- Key Features: Top-down open-world crime gameplay, multi-city structure, Wanted level system
- Description: The game that started it all drops you into three fictional cities — Liberty City, San Andreas, and Vice City — as a small-time criminal working through gang-assigned missions. There’s no deep narrative here; it’s mission-based mayhem with a top-down camera, stolen cars, and a simple but addictive point-and-cause-chaos loop that laid the groundwork for everything that followed.
- Reception: Reviews at the time were mixed to positive — critics appreciated its freedom and dark humor but noted the repetitive missions and controversy over its violent premise, which fueled early tabloid backlash in the UK.
2. Grand Theft Auto 2 (1999)
- Release Date: October 22, 1999
- Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Dreamcast, Game Boy Color
- Engine: Updated proprietary 2D engine
- Key Features: Gang respect system, futuristic setting, improved mission variety
- Description: Set in an unnamed, near-future Anywhere City, GTA 2 refines the original’s top-down formula with a gang reputation system that shifts how factions react to you. It’s a modest step forward — more polish, more mission types — without a huge leap in scope, but it closed out the series’ 2D era before Rockstar moved to full 3D worlds.
- Reception: Generally solid but unspectacular reviews; critics saw it as a competent sequel rather than a major evolution, with some fatigue setting in around the top-down format.
3. Grand Theft Auto III (2001)
- Release Date: October 22, 2001 (PS2); May 2002 (PC); October 2003 (Xbox)
- Platforms: PlayStation 2, PC, Xbox, later PS3/PS4/mobile via remasters
- Engine: RenderWare
- Key Features: Full 3D open world, voiced protagonist and cast, radio stations with licensed music, branching mission structure
- Description: GTA III is the franchise’s true turning point — it moved the series into a fully realized 3D Liberty City, added a silent-but-present protagonist in Claude, and introduced the cinematic mission structure and talk-radio satire that became series staples. It’s the game that effectively invented the modern open-world genre as we know it.
- Reception: Near-universal critical acclaim on release, frequently cited as one of the most influential games of its generation, though it also drew significant controversy over violence.
4. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002)
- Release Date: October 29, 2002
- Platforms: PlayStation 2, PC, Xbox, later remasters
- Engine: RenderWare (upgraded)
- Key Features: 1980s setting, property/business ownership, expanded weapon and vehicle variety
- Description: Vice City trades Liberty City’s grime for a neon-drenched, Scarface-inspired homage to 1980s Miami, starring Tommy Vercetti as he claws his way up the local crime scene. It builds directly on GTA III’s engine but adds real character progression through businesses you can buy and defend, giving the sandbox a stronger sense of long-term goals.
- Reception: Widely praised and often ranked among the best entries in the series, with critics highlighting its soundtrack, setting, and improved mission variety over GTA III.
5. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004)
- Release Date: October 26, 2004
- Platforms: PlayStation 2, PC, Xbox, later remasters and mobile
- Engine: RenderWare (further upgraded)
- Key Features: Three-city map, RPG-style stats (stamina, muscle, fat), customization, gang territory wars
- Description: San Andreas is the most ambitious PS2-era entry by far, spanning three cities (Los Santos, San Fierro, and Las Venturas) across a single connected map. Playing as CJ, you get RPG-lite progression — stats for stamina and strength, customizable appearance, and even romance options — layered onto a gang-war narrative that’s widely considered the series’ emotional high point of the era.
- Reception: Critically acclaimed and a massive commercial success; retrospective criticism has focused mostly on dated mission design, but its scope was unmatched at the time.
6. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (2005)
- Release Date: October 25, 2005 (PSP)
- Platforms: PlayStation Portable, later PS2 and mobile
- Engine: RenderWare (handheld-optimized)
- Key Features: Portable open-world gameplay, prequel storyline to GTA III
- Description: A prequel to GTA III, this handheld spin-off follows Toni Cipriani through Liberty City in the years before Claude’s story, filling in mob backstory while proving Rockstar could shrink a full open world down for the PSP without gutting it.
- Reception: Praised at the time as a technical achievement for handheld hardware, with reviewers noting only minor compromises versus the console originals.
7. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (2006)
- Release Date: October 31, 2006 (PSP)
- Platforms: PlayStation Portable, later PS2
- Engine: RenderWare (handheld-optimized)
- Key Features: Empire-building mechanics, military character backstory, portable multiplayer
- Description: Another prequel, this one set in Vice City a couple of years before Tommy Vercetti’s story, starring army-officer-turned-criminal Victor Vance. It expands on the empire-building ideas from San Andreas in a tighter, handheld-friendly package.
- Reception: Well-received as one of the strongest PSP titles of its generation, again earning praise for cramming console-scale ambition into portable hardware.
8. Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)
- Release Date: April 29, 2008
- Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC
- Engine: RAGE (Rockstar Advanced Game Engine), debut
- Key Features: Euphoria physics engine, cover-based combat, mobile phone mechanic, GPS navigation, online multiplayer
- Description: GTA IV rebuilds Liberty City from the ground up on the new RAGE engine, following Eastern European immigrant Niko Bellic through a grittier, more grounded crime story. Ragdoll physics, in-car GPS, and a functioning in-game phone all debut here, and the tone shifts noticeably darker and more dramatic than San Andreas.
- Reception: Critically acclaimed, widely regarded at the time as one of the best-reviewed games of its generation for its storytelling and technical leap, though some fans felt the driving physics were too heavy compared to prior entries.
- Expansions: The Lost and Damned, The Ballad of Gay Tony
9. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (2009)
- Release Date: March 17, 2009 (Nintendo DS)
- Platforms: Nintendo DS, PSP, iOS, Android
- Engine: Proprietary top-down engine (RAGE-adjacent tools)
- Key Features: Top-down perspective return, touch-screen minigames, drug-dealing economy system
- Description: A tonal callback to the original games, Chinatown Wars returns to a top-down view for handhelds while still fitting into the HD Universe timeline. It leans hard on a drug-trafficking economy and stylus-driven minigames that made clever use of the DS hardware.
- Reception: Praised as one of the best handheld entries in the series, with critics singling out its inventive use of touch controls.
10. Grand Theft Auto V (2013)
- Release Date: September 17, 2013 (PS3/Xbox 360); November 2014 (PS4/Xbox One); April 2015 (PC); March 2022 (PS5/Xbox Series X|S)
- Platforms: PlayStation 3/4/5, Xbox 360/One/Series X|S, PC
- Engine: RAGE (heavily upgraded)
- Key Features: Three playable protagonists, seamless character-switching, massive open-world map, GTA Online multiplayer
- Description: GTA V splits its story across three protagonists — Michael, Franklin, and Trevor — letting you switch between them mid-mission across the sprawling Los Santos and Blaine County map. It’s the series’ biggest technical leap since GTA III, and its satire of modern celebrity, wealth, and media culture is sharper than any prior entry.
- Reception: Near-universal acclaim, frequently cited among the highest-reviewed games ever made, and it remains one of the best-selling entertainment products in history at close to 200 million copies sold.
- Expansions: Grand Theft Auto Online (standalone multiplayer mode, launched October 1, 2013)
11. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition (2021)
- Release Date: November 11, 2021
- Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC
- Engine: Unreal Engine (remaster of RenderWare-era originals)
- Key Features: Updated visuals and lighting, modernized controls, remastered soundtrack
- Description: A remaster bundle of GTA III, Vice City, and San Andreas rebuilt in Unreal Engine, aimed at bringing the PS2-era trilogy to modern hardware with sharper visuals and updated controls, without altering the original stories.
- Reception: Reception was rocky at launch — reviewers and fans flagged visual glitches, bugs, and inconsistent art direction, prompting Rockstar to issue multiple post-launch patches.
12. Grand Theft Auto VI (2026)
- Release Date: November 19, 2026 (announced/confirmed)
- Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S (PC version not yet confirmed)
- Engine: RAGE (next-gen iteration)
- Key Features: Dual protagonists, return to Vice City-inspired setting, next-gen open-world scale
- Description: GTA VI follows criminal couple Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos through the fictional state of Leonida, including a modern-day return to a Vice City-style metropolis. After more than a decade since GTA V, it’s shaping up to be Rockstar’s most ambitious open world yet, with dual protagonists driving the narrative for the first time since GTA V’s three-character structure.
- Reception: Not yet released; pre-release trailers have generated record-breaking view counts and overwhelmingly positive anticipation.
Grand Theft Auto Games in Chronological/Story Order
Because several GTA entries are prequels or set in different in-fiction years than their release date suggests, playing strictly in release order means you’ll bounce around the timeline rather than experience it front-to-back.
In story chronology, the order runs roughly: GTA: London 1969 → GTA: London 1961 → GTA (1997, set in-fiction in 1997) → GTA: Vice City Stories → GTA: London 1969 → GTA 2 → GTA III → GTA: Liberty City Stories (though LCS is set before GTA III) → GTA: Vice City → GTA: San Andreas → GTA IV and its episodes → GTA: Chinatown Wars → GTA V and GTA Online → GTA VI. In practice, most fans don’t chase strict story chronology because GTA’s entries are only loosely connected — each game is closer to a standalone crime saga than a continuous narrative. The real risk of playing release order instead of story order is minor: a few callbacks and returning characters (like Ken Rosenberg or the Vance brothers) land better if you’ve played the earlier-set prequel first, but you won’t lose major plot threads either way.
Evolution of the Grand Theft Auto Series
GTA’s evolution tracks almost perfectly with major engine jumps. The leap from 2D to full 3D in GTA III turned a novelty crime game into the foundation of the modern open-world genre. GTA IV brought the RAGE engine, ragdoll physics, and a noticeably more grounded, cinematic tone that traded San Andreas’ over-the-top energy for something closer to prestige-TV crime drama. GTA V then pushed RAGE further with a vastly larger world, three-protagonist storytelling, and GTA Online, which turned the franchise into an ongoing live-service platform rather than a one-and-done campaign. Across three decades, the tone has shifted from broad satire toward sharper, more topical commentary, while the tech has scaled from pixelated sprites to some of the most detailed open worlds in the industry.
Which Grand Theft Auto Game Should You Play?
For satire and 1980s style fans, try Vice City — it’s short, punchy, and dripping with personality. New players might enjoy GTA V for its accessible campaign, modern controls, and the added bonus of GTA Online if you want more after the story ends. Veterans seeking the deepest, most ambitious single campaign will like San Andreas, which still holds up as the most content-packed PS2-era campaign in the series. If you’re after multiplayer longevity, GTA Online remains the franchise’s most-played mode nearly a decade after launch.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What order should I play Grand Theft Auto games in? Release order is the easiest and most rewarding way to experience the Grand Theft Auto games in order, since it lets you see the series’ mechanics and tone evolve naturally. If you only want to hit the mainline highlights, GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas, IV, and V cover the essential arc.
How many Grand Theft Auto games are there? Counting mainline entries, prequels, handheld spin-offs, and the remaster collection, there are around a dozen distinct Grand Theft Auto games, not including individual DLC expansions like The Lost and Damned or GTA Online updates.
Do I need to play the spin-offs/DLC? No — spin-offs like Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories add worthwhile backstory but aren’t required to follow the mainline plots. GTA IV’s expansions (The Lost and Damned, The Ballad of Gay Tony) are more worth prioritizing since they directly extend that game’s story and cast.
What’s the next Grand Theft Auto game? The next entry is Grand Theft Auto VI, officially confirmed for November 19, 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, following protagonists Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos through the fictional state of Leonida.
Conclusion
Working through the Grand Theft Auto games in order shows just how much the series shaped open-world gaming, from a scrappy 2D crime sim in 1997 to the genre-defining scale of GTA V and now the industry-wide anticipation surrounding GTA VI. Whichever entry you start with, you’re stepping into one of gaming’s most influential franchises. Which GTA game holds the top spot for you? Drop your pick in the comments, and if you’re hungry for more sandbox chaos, check out our Saints Row Games in Order guide next.
