The history of the GTA series: from Grand Theft Auto to GTA 6
From a 2D top-down game in 1997 to the most ambitious open world Rockstar has ever built: almost 30 years of evolution.
GTA 6 doesn't come out of nowhere: it's the current endpoint of a journey spanning nearly three decades, starting with a game very different from the one we know today.
1997: 2D beginnings
The original Grand Theft Auto, developed by DMA Design (later Rockstar North), launched in 1997 with a top-down view and 2D graphics. Despite the limited technology, the game sold over a million copies in its first year — already a notable success at the time — while drawing early criticism for the violence and criminal themes that would follow every subsequent entry.
2001: the leap to 3D with GTA III
Grand Theft Auto III marks the series' true turning point: a three-dimensional world, third-person view, a Liberty City that felt alive and believable. It's the entry that turned GTA from a niche series into a mass phenomenon.
2002-2004: Vice City and San Andreas
Within three years, both Vice City (1980s Miami) and San Andreas (1990s California/Nevada) were released, massively expanding the series' scale and narrative ambition.
2008-2013: GTA IV and GTA V
GTA IV introduced gameplay choices affecting the story's ending. GTA V (2013) took the formula to the next level with three playable protagonists and the launch of GTA Online, the multiplayer service that still generates most of the series' revenue today.
2026: GTA VI and the return to Vice City
With GTA 6, Rockstar returns to Vice City after more than 20 years, this time as part of the state of Leonida — described by the studio as the largest and most detailed setting ever built for the series, with two protagonists (Jason and Lucia) instead of GTA V's three.