Every GTA Game in Order: The Complete Release History

Grand Theft Auto VI arrives almost three decades after the first game in the series. If you are new to GTA, or just want to see how the series got here, this is the full release history of the main games and their major spin-offs, in the order they came out.

The full list at a glance

The top-down years (1997 to 1999)

The original Grand Theft Auto was made by DMA Design, the Scottish studio that later became Rockstar North. It was viewed from directly above and already used the three city names fans still know: Liberty City, San Andreas and Vice City. Two expansion packs set in 1960s London followed in 1999, and Grand Theft Auto 2 moved the action to a near-future city simply called Anywhere City.

These games are simple by modern standards, but the core idea was already there: an open city, missions handed out by crime bosses, and the freedom to ignore them and cause chaos instead.

The 3D era (2001 to 2006)

Grand Theft Auto III changed everything in 2001. Moving to full 3D on the PlayStation 2 turned Liberty City into a place you could explore from street level, and it set the template for open-world games for years.

Rockstar followed it with two of the most loved games in the series. Vice City (2002) went back to 1986 with neon, pastel suits and an '80s soundtrack. San Andreas (2004) was enormous for its time, covering three cities and the countryside between them. Two handheld spin-offs on the PSP, Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories, filled in earlier chapters of the same world.

The HD era (2008 to 2013)

Grand Theft Auto IV rebooted the universe on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 with a darker, more grounded story about immigrant Niko Bellic. Two episodes, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, told parallel stories in the same Liberty City, while Chinatown Wars brought a stylised top-down view back on the Nintendo DS.

Grand Theft Auto V arrived in September 2013 and became one of the best-selling entertainment products ever. Its three switchable protagonists, its satire of Los Angeles and the long-running GTA Online kept it on store charts across three console generations.

Grand Theft Auto VI (2026)

GTA VI releases on November 19, 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. It returns to Vice City for the first time in a main entry since 2002, but this time in the present day and as part of a whole state, Leonida. You can read more in our release date guide and see how it differs from its predecessor in GTA 6 vs GTA 5.

Which universe is GTA 6 part of?

Fans usually split the series into three continuities: the original 2D games, the 3D universe that started with GTA III, and the HD universe that started with GTA IV. Characters do not cross between them. GTA VI, like GTA V, is built on modern hardware, and Rockstar has not announced any story links to earlier games, so you do not need to play anything else first.