Grand Theft Auto (GTA) Series: From Top-Down Crime to Open World
The Grand Theft Auto series explained: its origins, gameplay, influence on open-world games, and how to play GTA V and the Trilogy today.
GTA (Grand Theft Auto) is synonymous with games that hand you an entire city as your playground. The title comes from the American legal term for car theft, and the series did in fact begin as a small top-down car chase game.
In this post we look at how a top-down game made by a small Scottish developer became the benchmark for 3D open worlds, what the series' core gameplay is, and why it's still regarded as a classic.
At the end, we also list the titles and platforms officially available to play as of 2026. Figures and dates are limited to those confirmed on Wikipedia and Rockstar Games' official site.
At a Glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| First release | November 1997 (MS-DOS, Windows) |
| Developer | DMA Design (now Rockstar North) |
| Publisher | BMG Interactive (first game), then Rockstar Games |
| Platforms | PC, PlayStation family, Xbox family, Nintendo Switch, mobile and more |
| Genre | Action-adventure, open world |
The series was created by David Jones and Mike Dailly, and later games were led by brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. According to Wikipedia, the series has shipped around 475 million units in total, making it one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time.
Origins
GTA began at DMA Design in Dundee, Scotland. It was originally conceived under the name "Race 'n' Chase," a game in which the player was a police officer chasing criminals. But the team felt that setup was boring, and they flipped it around so players controlled the criminal instead. The developers put a lot of effort into letting players play freely in whatever way they wanted.
The first game, released in 1997, used a top-down 2D view. It was set in three cities modeled on real ones—Liberty City (New York), San Andreas (San Francisco) and Vice City (Miami)—and players took jobs over payphones to rack up points. Its violence was so controversial that calls for a sales ban arose even before release, and publicist Max Clifford turned the controversy into free publicity. Reviews were split between those disappointed by the graphics and controls and those who praised its freedom and sound, but it was a commercial success.
In 1999, two expansion packs set in 1960s London and GTA 2 were released. These games are commonly referred to as the "2D universe."
Gameplay
The series' basic formula was completed with GTA III in 2001. This game moved the series to 3D, and most later entries evolved from this format.
- Missions and free roaming: You advance the story by completing missions with set objectives. Outside missions, you can roam the city freely and take on side activities like driving a taxi, firefighting and racing.
- Wanted level: Committing crimes raises a star-based wanted level. With few stars, a handful of police cars chase you, but at higher levels even tanks and attack helicopters appear. You can shake the heat by evading the police or getting your car repainted at a body shop. This wanted system went on to become common in other open-world games.
- Radio stations: When you're in a car, you can listen to fictional radio stations featuring DJs, ads, talk shows and popular music. Radio grew in importance from GTA III onward and serves as a device for satirizing American culture.
- A living city: Pedestrians obey traffic signals and cars come and go, so the city works like a small simulation.
The next game in the 3D universe, Vice City (2002), was the first in the series with a speaking protagonist, voiced by actor Ray Liotta. San Andreas (2004) added character customization and a vast map combining three cities and the countryside.
Later, GTA IV (2008) focused on realism and detail and added online multiplayer, while GTA V (2013) introduced switching between three protagonists and a story centered on heists. GTA Online, GTA V's online mode, lets up to 30 players enjoy cooperative and competitive modes together.
Why It's a Classic
First, it popularized the open-world format. Wikipedia describes GTA III as a milestone in the open-world concept. Its structure became such a benchmark that similar games were labeled "GTA clones." GTA III was the best-selling game of 2001 and sold more than 14.5 million copies in total.
Second, the city itself is the content. Even without doing missions, time flies just driving around listening to the radio or exploring the city's corners. Fictional cities modeled on real ones but laced with satire are the series' most distinctive trait.
Third, its commercial records. GTA V earned about $800 million on its first day and $1 billion within three days, becoming the fastest-selling entertainment product in history and setting seven Guinness World Records. According to Wikipedia, GTA V had shipped more than 230 million units by June 2026, making it the second best-selling video game of all time.
Of course, controversy has always followed. Violent content, the portrayal of women, and the "Hot Coffee" mod incident in San Andreas put the series at the center of criticism and regulatory debate many times. Even so, the main 3D entries frequently appear on lists of the greatest games of all time.
Series and Influence
The series is divided into universes according to its graphical eras.
| Universe | Main titles |
|---|---|
| 2D universe | GTA (1997), London expansions, GTA 2 (1999) |
| 3D universe | GTA III (2001), Vice City (2002), San Andreas (2004), Liberty City Stories, Vice City Stories and more |
| HD universe | GTA IV (2008) and its expansions, GTA V (2013) |
The universes aren't connected to each other, sharing only brands, place names and some background characters. Spin-offs for handheld devices, such as Chinatown Wars (2009), were also released.
The series' influence extends beyond games. In 2006, GTA was included in a list of British design icons run by the BBC and the Design Museum, and the series is regarded as one of Scotland's and the UK's leading cultural exports. A book about its development, Jacked (2012), and the BBC drama The Gamechangers (2015) were also released. In game design terms, elements like the wanted level, radio and carjacking became the basic grammar of countless open-world games that followed.
How to Play It Today
As of October 2026, the main titles officially available to play are:
- GTA V: Available on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X/S, and Windows. Enhanced versions for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S came out in March 2022, and the PC version received the same improvements in a free update in March 2025. GTA Online is included as well.
- Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition: A remastered bundle of GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas. It launched in November 2021 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, Windows, and Xbox One and Series X/S, and came to Android and iOS in December 2023.
- GTA VI: The latest entry in the series, officially announced in December 2023, is scheduled for release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 19, 2026. It is set in Vice City.
If you're just starting out, GTA V is the safest choice, offering modern controls and a vast city. If you want to see the series' roots, we recommend playing the Trilogy in order, starting with GTA III. Since the series deals with violence and crime, it's a good idea to check each game's age rating before buying.