1997: how it started

The first Grand Theft Auto was released in 1997 by Scottish studio DMA Design, which later became Rockstar North. It looked nothing like today’s games: the camera sat overhead, the world was two-dimensional, and the game simply handed you a city and the freedom to do as you liked in it.

That idea, that the player follows no corridor but chooses, was the real discovery. GTA 2 repeated it in 1999, but the defining moment came two years later.

2001: GTA III changes video games

GTA III took the series into three dimensions and onto the PlayStation 2. Liberty City, the GTA world’s version of New York, was a city that lived around you: traffic, pedestrians, radio, police.

Its impact was such that for years every open-world game was compared to it. Its hero, Claude, never spoke a word.

Vice City and San Andreas: the two classics

Vice City (2002) moved the series to 1986, to a city inspired by Miami, with neon, palm trees and Tommy Vercetti, voiced by actor Ray Liotta. The radio stations and the era’s music became a hallmark of the series.

San Andreas (2004) was bigger still: an entire state with three cities, modelled on Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas. CJ returns to his neighbourhood in the early 90s, with Samuel L. Jackson among the cast. For many players it remains their favourite GTA.

GTA IV, GTA V and GTA Online

GTA IV (2008) returned to Liberty City with a darker tone and a new hero, Niko Bellic, an immigrant looking for a new life. Two expansions followed, "The Lost and Damned" and "The Ballad of Gay Tony".

GTA V (2013) did something never done before: three protagonists, Michael, Franklin and Trevor, between whom you switch freely. It has sold more than 200 million copies and is among the best-selling entertainment products of all time.

A few weeks after launch came GTA Online, the online side that kept the series alive for a whole decade through constant additions.

GTA 6: what is officially known

Grand Theft Auto VI arrives on 19 November 2026, for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. There is no PS4 or Xbox One version, and for PC nothing has been announced: any PC date circulating online is speculation. Preloading begins on 12 November.

The story returns to Vice City and the wider state of Leonida, with two protagonists, Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos, the first female lead in a mainline GTA.

There are two editions, Standard and Ultimate, the latter adding in-game content and two exclusive side missions; upgrading is possible after launch too. Every purchase before 20 November includes the Vintage Vice City Pack, and digital purchases add one month of GTA+.

One detail worth knowing: the physical edition contains no disc, only a download code in the box. The first trailer arrived in December 2023 with a 2025 window, followed by two delays, first to May and then to November 2026.

Every GTA in order

1997 – Grand Theft Auto · 1999 – GTA 2 · 2001 – GTA III · 2002 – Vice City · 2004 – San Andreas · 2005-2006 – Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories · 2008 – GTA IV · 2009 – Chinatown Wars · 2013 – GTA V and GTA Online · 2021 – the Definitive Edition trilogy · 2026 – GTA VI.

What a buyer should know

Every GTA carries a PEGI 18 rating. That is not an exaggeration: the series contains violence, strong language and adult themes, and the rating restricts sale to adults.

If you are buying a gift, always ask which console the recipient owns. GTA V is available across several console generations, while GTA 6 is PS5 and Xbox Series X|S only. For the classics, the Definitive Edition trilogy gathers III, Vice City and San Andreas on modern consoles.