Gameplay focuses on anopen world where the player can complete missions to progress an overall story, as well asengage in various side activities. Most of the gameplay revolves around driving and shooting, with occasionalrole-playing andstealth elements. The series also has elements of the earlierbeat 'em up games from the16-bit era. The games in theGrand Theft Auto series are set in fictional locales modelled after real-life cities, at various points in time from the early 1960s to the 2010s. The original game's map encompassed three cities—Liberty City (based onNew York City), San Andreas (based onSan Francisco),[a] and Vice City (based onMiami)—but later titles tend to focus on a single setting and expand upon the original three locales. Each game in the series centres on different respectiveprotagonist who attempts to rise through the criminal underworld due to various motives, often accompanying themes of betrayal. Several film and music veterans have voiced characters in the games, includingRay Liotta,Dennis Hopper,Samuel L. Jackson,William Fichtner,James Woods,Debbie Harry,Axl Rose andPeter Fonda.[3]
DMA Design began the series in 1997, with the release of theGrand Theft Auto. As of 2020[update], the series consists of seven standalone titles and fourexpansion packs. The third main title,Grand Theft Auto III, released in 2001, is considered a landmark game, and brought the series into athree-dimensional environment for the first time. Subsequent titles have followed and built upon the format established byGrand Theft Auto III, receiving significant acclaim. The games influenced other open-world games, and led to the labelGrand Theft Auto clone on similar titles.[4]
The series has been critically acclaimed, with all the main 3D entries in the franchise frequently ranked among thegreatest andbest-selling video games;[5] it has shipped more than 440 million units, making it one of thebest-selling video game franchises. In 2006,Grand Theft Auto was featured in a list of British design icons in the Great British Design Quest organised by theBBC and theDesign Museum.[6] In 2013,The Telegraph rankedGrand Theft Auto among Britain's most successful exports.[7] The series has also beencontroversial for itsadult nature and violent themes, as well as forcut content.
TheGrand Theft Auto series is split into separatefictional universes, named after the primary level of graphics capability used in each era.[8] The originalGrand Theft Auto, its expansions and its sequel are considered the "2D universe".Grand Theft Auto III and its sequels are considered the "3D universe".Grand Theft Auto IV, its expansions andGrand Theft Auto V are considered the "HD universe". Each universe is considered separate with only brands, place names and background characters shared between them.[8]
On 4 February 2022, Rockstar confirmed that development of a new entry in the series was "well underway".[19] In-development footage of the game leaked in September 2022;[20][21] Rockstar noted that it was "extremely disappointed" by the manner in which the game was first demonstrated, but that it did not anticipate long-term effects on development.[22] In December 2023, the game was officially announced asGrand Theft Auto VI, with a projected release date of 2025 for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.[23]
Other games
Grand Theft Auto has spawned numerous additional games andexpansion packs. In 1999, the original game received two expansion packs:Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 andGrand Theft Auto: London 1961, which, as their names suggest, featured a different setting – a fictional version ofLondon – and new missions and characters.[9]Grand Theft Auto Advance, released in 2004 exclusively for theGame Boy Advance, featured atop-down perspective, similarly to the first two main games in the series, and the same setting asGrand Theft Auto III, to which it served as a prequel. Three games were released for thePlayStation Portable:Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories in 2005, which is also a prequel toGrand Theft Auto III;Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories in 2006, which is a prequel toVice City; andGrand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars in 2009, which features the same setting asGrand Theft Auto IV, but the two games are otherwise unrelated. BothLiberty City Stories andVice City Stories were later ported to the PlayStation 2, whileChinatown Wars was originally released for theNintendo DS and later ported to PlayStation Portable.[24] In 2009,The Lost and Damned andThe Ballad of Gay Tony were released for theXbox 360 as expansion packs toGrand Theft Auto IV; a "strategic alliance" between Rockstar andMicrosoft resulted in the timed exclusivity. The expansions focus on characters who played a relatively minor role in the main game, and whose stories take place simultaneously withGrand Theft Auto IV's. Both were later released for the PlayStation 3 and Windows as part of a compilation, titledGrand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, also available on Xbox 360.[25]
Numerous titles in the series have received ports tomobile devices.Chinatown Wars was released foriOS in 2010 and forAndroid andFire OS in 2014.[26] For their tenth anniversaries,Grand Theft Auto III andVice City were both re-released for iOS and Android in 2011 and 2012, respectively.[27][28] In 2013,San Andreas was ported to iOS, Android and Windows Phone and RT;[29] the mobile port was later re-released for Xbox 360 in 2014, the year of the game's tenth anniversary,[30] and the following year for PlayStation 3.[31] In 2015,Liberty City Stories was ported to iOS, Android and Fire OS.[32][33]
Compilations
Grand Theft Auto Double Pack was released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and includes bothGrand Theft Auto III andVice City.[34]Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy is a compilation ofIII,Vice City, andSan Andreas, and was first released in 2005 for the Xbox.[35] It was later re-released for the PlayStation 2, Windows, Mac OS X, and PlayStation 4.[36][37][38][39]The Trilogy also served as the revised package forSan Andreas, which had to be pulled from shelves due to the controversialHot Coffee mod.[40] A report in August 2021 suggested thatRockstar Dundee was leading development on aremastered version of the trilogy, usingUnreal Engine;[41] following some leaks,[42][43][44] Rockstar officially announcedGrand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition on 8 October 2021. The game features graphical and gameplay upgrades, and replaced existing versions on digital retailers. It was released for theNintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on 11 November 2021,[45] and for Android and iOS on 14 December 2023.[46]
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City is a standalone compilation of the two episodes forGrand Theft Auto IV. It contains bothThe Lost and Damned andThe Ballad of Gay Tony on one disc. It was released on 29 October 2009 for the Xbox 360 and on 13 April 2010 for PlayStation 3 and Windows. Microsoft addedEpisodes from Liberty City to itsbackwards compatibility list for Xbox One platforms in February 2017.[47] The standalone release ofEpisodes from Liberty City for Windows was discontinued and replaced by a single-player-only version ofGrand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition in 2020.[48]
^Originally available on PlayStation 3 as part of thePlayStation 2 Classics line via the PlayStation Network, but later replaced with a HD native release[49]
^IncludesGrand Theft Auto III,Vice City, andSan Andreas
^IncludesLiberty City Stories andVice City Stories
^IncludesThe Lost and Damned andThe Ballad of Gay Tony
^IncludesGrand Theft Auto IV,The Lost and Damned andThe Ballad of Gay Tony
^Includes remastered versions ofGrand Theft Auto III,Vice City, andSan Andreas
^abThe Nintendo Switch is ahybrid console, combining features of home and handheld systems.
Related media
The series has been expanded into various other formats.Jacked: The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto, a book written byDavid Kushner chronicling the development of the series, was published in 2012.[51] In March 2015,BBC Two announcedThe Gamechangers, a 90-minutedocudrama based on the creation ofGrand Theft Auto.[52] Directed by Owen Harris and written by James Wood, the drama starsDaniel Radcliffe as Rockstar presidentSam Houser andBill Paxton as disbarred attorneyJack Thompson.[53] In May 2015, Rockstar filed a lawsuit against the BBC for trademark infringement, stating that they had no involvement with the development of the film and had unsuccessfully tried to contact the BBC to resolve the matter.[54] It first aired on 15 September 2015 onBBC Two.[55]
In 2006,McFarland & Company publishedThe Meaning and Culture of Grand Theft Auto.[56] Compiled byNate Garrelts, the 264-page book is a collection of essays regarding theGrand Theft Auto series, to help audiences better understand the games and to make a point about due diligence of game criticism. The book is divided into two parts: the first part discusses the controversies surrounding the series, while the second half takes a theoretical look at the games absent of the controversy.[57]
Roger Corman, who produced the unrelated 1977 filmGrand Theft Auto, claimed that any attempted film adaptation of the video game series was unable to proceed. In 2017, he claimed that he sued the "video game manufacturer who flat-out stole the idea", and that they "settled out of court and they gave me some money".[58] He said that he retains the rights, "but the way it was actually written in the contract is a little bit cloudy", and that his lawyers were analysing the contract to ensure that he can remake the film.[58] Take-Two Interactive responded to Corman's claims, noting that the company "owns all rights for films related to theGrand Theft Auto video game series", and that it "can and will take appropriate legal action against anyone attempting to misuse our intellectual property by attempting to make a new film titledGrand Theft Auto";[58] it claimed to have successfully taken legal action against similar attempts in the past.[58]
Common elements
Gameplay
Each game in this series allows the player to take on the role of a criminal in the big city, typically an individual who ends up rising through the ranks oforganised crime through the course of the game. The player is given various missions by kingpins and major idols in the city underworld which must be completed to progress through the storyline. Assassinations and otherviolent crimes are featured regularly. Occasionally,taxi driving,firefighting,street racing,bus driving, or learning to flyhelicopters andfixed-wing aircraft are also involved in the game.
In later titles, notably those released afterGrand Theft Auto 2, the player is given a more developed storyline in which they are forced to overcome an unfortunate event (e.g., being betrayed and left for dead), which serves as motivation for the character to advance up the criminal ladder and ultimately leads to the triumph of the character by the end of the storyline.
TheGrand Theft Auto series belongs to a genre offree-roaming role-playing video games calledopen world games, and grants a large amount of freedom to the player. Traditional action games are structured as a single track series of levels withlinear gameplay, but inGrand Theft Auto the player can determine the missions that they want to undertake, and their relationship with various characters are changed based on these choices. Influenced by the earlier gameTurbo Esprit,[59][60] the cities of the games can be roamed freely at any point in the game, and are examples ofopen world video game environments which offer accessible buildings with minor missions in addition to the main storyline. There are exceptions: missions follow a linear, overarching plot. These missions are required to complete in order to unlock new areas in the game.
Grand Theft Auto III and subsequent games have more voice acting and radio stations, which simulate driving to music with disc jockeys, radio personalities,commercials,talk radio,pop music, and American culture.
The use of vehicles in an explorable urban environment provides a basic simulation of a working city, complete with pedestrians who generally obey traffic signals. Further details are used to flesh out an open-ended atmosphere that has been used in several other games, such asThe Simpsons: Hit & Run, which has less emphasis on crime or violence, andLego City Undercover, which reverses the roles of police officer and criminal, although the player goes undercover in gangs for a portion of the game.
Criminal activities inGrand Theft Auto games do not go unnoticed by the police. As the player engages in these in-game illegal activities, they may gain a "wanted level", represented by a maximum of five or six stars. A small crime, such as running over anon-player character, may create a one star wanted level situation, while shooting an officer may earn more stars. As the number of stars increase, the amount and strength of the response will increase; a single star might have a few police cars chase after the player, while at 5 or 6 stars, tanks and attack helicopters will chase down the player. Many in-game missions will automatically give the player a wanted level after completing a certain event which they must then get rid of before the mission is complete. Often, trying to keep away from the police while wanted will cause the player to gain even higher wanted levels. The player can remove their character's wanted level by avoiding detection or spending in-game money at specific locations to elude the police (such as a mod shop to repaint their car). Alternatively, if the player-character dies, they willrespawn at a hospital and the wanted level will be removed, though the player may lose money, guns, and other benefits they had before being chased. The "wanted level" gameplay concept has become common insimilar open world games.
Setting
MostGrand Theft Auto games are set in fictional parodies of well-knownUnited States cities, in a number of different time periods. The games are split into three different universes (2D, 3D, and HD), each with their own reinterpretations of previously established settings. The universes share the names of cities, several brands, and background characters who never make physical appearances in the games (with a few exceptions), but are otherwise considered to be separate continuities.[8]
Liberty City
New York City, which serves as the basis for Liberty City
Liberty City, based onNew York City, is one of the three original cities introduced inGrand Theft Auto. It is the first setting available to the player. The city encompasses two landmasses (a large one in the southeast and a smaller one in the northeast) and aManhattan-like central island; two smaller islands are featured along the river that separates the three main islands. The setting also incorporates the neighbouring state of New Guernsey (a parody ofNew Jersey), which occupies the northwest portion of the map. All four major islands are divided into multiple districts, inspired by New York and New Jersey's boroughs.
A redesigned version of Liberty City was introduced inGrand Theft Auto III (set in 2001). This iteration is only loosely based on New York, and incorporates elements from other U.S. cities, such asPhiladelphia,Detroit,Boston,Chicago, andBaltimore.[61] The city encompasses three main islands, which are gradually unlocked as the game's storyline progresses: Portland (based on the industrial areas ofBrooklyn andQueens, with additional elements from Manhattan andLong Island), Staunton Island (based mostly on Manhattan), and Shoreside Vale (loosely based onNorth Jersey,The Bronx,Staten Island, andUpstate New York). The islands are connected by road bridges and an underground tunnel system. A tunnel leading out of Liberty City can be found in Shoreside Vale, but it is impassable by the player. This particular version of Liberty City returned in the prequelsGrand Theft Auto Advance (set in 2000) andGrand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (set in 1998), albeit with several changes to reflect the different time periods. The city was also mentioned inGrand Theft Auto: Vice City andGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and was the setting of a mission in the latter.
A third version of Liberty City was featured inGrand Theft Auto IV, its expansion packsThe Lost and Damned andThe Ballad of Gay Tony (all three set in 2008), and the handheld gameGrand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (set in 2009). This iteration closely resembles New York, and consists of four main boroughs, which become available to explore as the story progresses: Broker (based on Brooklyn), Dukes (Queens), Bohan (The Bronx), and Algonquin (Manhattan).[62] The placement of these boroughs mirrors that of their real-life counterparts: Broker and Dukes occupy a large landmass in the southeast, while Bohan forms its own, smaller island in the northeast, and Algonquin acts as the city's central island. The setting also incorporates three smaller islands—Charge Island (Randall's Island), Colony Island (Roosevelt Island), and Happiness Island (Liberty Island)—and a fourth landmass, Alderney, which is located west of Algonquin and regarded as its own independent state (similarly to New Jersey). Alderney is absent inChinatown Wars.[63] All islands, barring Happiness Island, are connected by road bridges, underground tunnels, and asubway system; none of which lead out of the city.
San Andreas
San Francisco, initially the basis for San Andreas and later San Fierro
Las Vegas, the basis for Las Venturas
Los Angeles, the basis for Los Santos
San Andreas, based onSan Francisco, is one of the three original cities introduced inGrand Theft Auto. It is the second setting available to the player. The locale encompasses two landmasses: a large northern portion, which is divided into fifteen districts and generally considered to be the city's core, and a smaller island in the southeast, consisting of only one district, which acts as the city's docks area. The northern landmass is further divided by Aye Valley, which cuts through the heart of the area from the east to the west.
A reimagined version of San Andreas was featured inGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas (set in 1992), as a state rather than a city. Based onCalifornia andNevada, the state encompasses two landmasses, separated by a river and surrounded by a large body of water. The southern portion of the map features the cities of Los Santos (based onLos Angeles) and San Fierro (San Francisco), separated by vast forest and mountain areas. By contrast, the northern portion is one large desert region and incorporates only one city, Las Venturas (Las Vegas). Both landmasses feature additional rural settlements, which are less inhabited than the three major cities. The cities are connected by a train track system, and each one features an airport, which can be used tofast travel from a city to another. At the beginning of the game, players only have access to Los Santos, with the rest of the map being gradually unlocked as the story progresses.
A third version of San Andreas appeared inGrand Theft Auto V (set in 2013), again imagined as a state. The game features only the southern portion of the state, which is depicted as a large island. The southern portion of the island is occupied mostly by the city of Los Santos (which resembles Los Angeles much more closely than itsSan Andreas counterpart), while the northern portion, known as Blaine County, is less inhabited, featuring vast areas of desert, forest, and mountain, and only a few small towns.[64] This version of San Andreas is currently the only setting in the series that doesn't feature any map limitations, allowing players to explore the entire island at the beginning of the game. Los Angeles was extensively researched forGrand Theft Auto V. The team organised field research trips with tour guides and architectural historians and captured around 250,000 photos and hours of video footage during these visits.[65] Since the release of the game, hundreds of in-game buildings have been identified as being based on real-world landmarks.[66]The New Yorker's Sam Sweet notes that, with sales of the game reaching thirteen million copies, "there will be more people living in the imaginary state of Los Santos than in the real city on which it was modelled."[67]
Vice City
Miami, which serves as the basis for Vice City
Vice City, based onMiami, is one of the three original cities introduced inGrand Theft Auto. It is the third setting available to the player. The city encompasses one large landmass, divided into eight districts which form the city's core, and a smaller island, Vice Beach, in the northeast. Like its real-life counterpart, Vice City is depicted as a tropical city, easily distinguished from the other two in the game by its beaches and palm trees.
A redesigned version of Vice City was introduced inGrand Theft Auto: Vice City (set in 1986). The city consists of two main landmasses, Vice City Beach and Vice City Mainland, separated by a large body of water and connected to each other and to two smaller islands, Starfish Island and Prawn Island, by a series of road bridges. At the beginning of the game, the player only has access to Vice City Beach, with the rest of the city being gradually unlocked as the story progresses. The same setting would be later used in the prequelGrand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (set in 1984), albeit with several changes to reflect the different time period.
A third version of Vice City will be featured as the main setting of the upcomingGrand Theft Auto VI.
Other settings
TheLondon 1969 andLondon 1961 expansion packs forGrand Theft Auto take place within a fictionalised version ofLondon during the 1960s. As such, they are the only games in the series to be set outside of the United States. The portion of the city used in the games is based onCentral London, although heavily condensed and mostly geographically inaccurate. It consists of two landmasses, separated by theRiver Thames and connected by several road bridges. A fictionalised version ofManchester is also featured in the games.
Grand Theft Auto 2 is set in Anywhere City, a fictional US retro futuristic metropolis with no apparent inspiration from any real-life city. The setting consists of three areas, which the player will switch between as the story progresses: the Downtown District, the Residential District, and the Industrial District. Each district is depicted as its own individual island. The game is set in an unspecified time period—conflicting sources suggest anything from "three weeks into the future",[68] to the year 2013,[69] while the game itself features several references to the "new millennium" that is coming, implying that the year is 1999.[69]
Grand Theft Auto V features the fictional town of Ludendorff in the state of North Yankton, which is the setting of two missions and is inaccessible outside of the storyline.[70] The 2020 update forGrand Theft Auto Online,The Cayo Perico Heist, introduced the eponymous fictional island, a "tropical paradise" off theCaribbean coast ofColombia privately owned by notorious drug lord Juan "El Rubio" Strickler. The island is used as both atransshipment base and a partying place by El Rubio, and draws inspiration fromNorman's Cay andHacienda Nápoles.[71] Cayo Perico is the first setting in the series not located in the United States since London.
Voice acting
The series has included a wide variety ofvoice actors. The originalGrand Theft Auto, itsmission packs and itssequel, as well asGrand Theft Auto Advance andChinatown Wars did not feature any voice credited to specific roles.[72][73] The first game in the series to do so wasGrand Theft Auto III which, despite a limited budget and the series' low profile at the time,[74] featured several notable actors from film and television. These includedFrank Vincent,Michael Madsen andKyle MacLachlan, who all had prominent roles. At the time it was rare for a video game to use such high-profile actors, andGrand Theft Auto III is considered a pioneer in doing so.[75] The next game,Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, featured more film actors, includingRay Liotta as the player character. Although the following title,Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, also featured many notable film actors—such asSamuel L. Jackson,Peter Fonda andJames Woods—it had been decided that the use of such actors should be reduced, particularly for leading roles. As a result, many of the prominent roles inSan Andreas were voiced by lower profile actors or rappers.[76][77]
According toThe Guinness World Records 2008 and 2009 Gamer's Edition, it is the most controversial video game series in history, with over 4,000 articles published about it, which include accusations ofglamorising violence, corrupting gamers, and connection to real life crimes.[82]
Grand Theft Auto
The game was controversial from the first incarnation of the series.[83]Grand Theft Auto was condemned in Britain, Germany, and France due to its "extreme violence",[84] and Brazil banned it outright.[84]PublicistMax Clifford planted sensational stories intabloids in order to help sell the first game.[83][85][86]
The controversies flared up again withGrand Theft Auto III, for various reasons. First, the 3D graphics made the violence more realistic. Also, players could restore their health by paying for the services of prostitutes, and if they wished, kill them to get some of their money back.[86]
There was also criticism of the focus on illegal activities in comparison with traditional "heroic" roles that other games offer. The main character can commit crimes and violent acts – including the killing of policemen and military personnel – while suffering only temporary consequences.
The sixth game in the series,Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, also came under criticism. One mission in particular, in which the player must instigate agang war between Haitian and Cuban gangs, has been controversial. Haitian and Cuban anti-defamation groups criticised the game.
Jean-Robert Lafortune of the Haitian American Grassroots Coalition is quoted as saying that "The game shouldn't be designed to destroy human life, it shouldn't be designed to destroy an ethnic group," for this and similar scenarios, including lines in the game's script such as "kill the Haitian dickheads" said by character "Diaz" during an altercation between the player and a Haitian gang. After the threat of a lawsuit by the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition, Rockstar removed the word "Haitians" from this phrase in the game's subtitles.[87]
San Andreas was criticised initially for its "gangster" elements, which include drugs, prostitution, and murder. It received additional criticism after the discovery of an interactive sexminigame, nicknamed Hot Coffee. Although it had been cut from the game, it remained in the code, and was discovered in both the console and Windows versions.
After the release ofSan Andreas,modders managed to find the unused code in the game and releasedunofficial patches for the Windows and Xbox (with amodchip)versions as well as aPlayStation 2 version through the use of anAction Replay code enabling the player to engage in these sexual mini-games (dubbed "Hot Coffee" in reference to a euphemism for sex used in the game). These mini-games were left partially intact in the game's code. This prompted application of an AO (Adults Only)ESRB rating to the version of the game containing the leftover code. Take-Two Interactive was forced to re-release the game in order to restore the M (Mature) rating. A class action lawsuit against Take-Two was also filed as a result of the "Hot Coffee" code.[88][89]
One of the controversies involved with this game wasMothers Against Drunk Driving's (MADD) criticism of the ability todrink and drive as a new feature. MADD had even requestedESRB to change the rating of the game from "M" for ages seventeen and up to "AO", for adults only, because they felt it was inappropriate for children, even at the age of seventeen, to experience drunk driving in such a manner.[90] In the final game, drunk driving is a playable event, but it is a crime that automatically generates a wanted rating[91] and main playable characterNiko Bellic loudly (and drunkenly) proclaims that it is a "bad idea" and that he "should know better".[92]
Notably, it is impossible to drive while drunk in theGTA IV expansions,The Lost and Damned andThe Ballad of Gay Tony. These were released after the criticism. It is, however, possible to drive drunk again in the successor,Grand Theft Auto V.[93]
The Lost and Damned expansion pack forGrand Theft Auto IV was condemned by US parents group Common Sense Media who issued a public warning against the pack's content due to a full-frontalnudity scene during one of the cutscenes. They claimed the game was "more controversial than its predecessors" because it featured "full frontal male nudity".[94]
Nintendo wanted us to makeGrand Theft Auto, and we wanted to make a game on their platform. They didn't want us to make aGrand Theft Auto for kids, and we weren't interested in making a game we wouldn't normally make.
Dan Houser, on the making ofChinatown Wars for theNintendo DS[95]
There has been some controversy over a drug dealing minigame[96] along with comments that some Nintendo games are being aimed at children (despite the fact that the game was rated Mature). The drug dealing mini-game allows players to peddle six types of drugs around the city, but the profit the player makes depends on market conditions, which will be based on the area in which they deal, and the level of regular service this area receives from them.[97][98]
A segment in the latest instalment caused controversy for scenes containing player-initiated torture. The mission "By the Book" features graphic depictions of kneecapping, electrocution, dental extraction and waterboarding, and the player is required to perform an act of torture in order to progress in the game.[99][100][101]
UK-based charityFreedom from Torture publicly condemned the use of torture scenes inGrand Theft Auto V. The organisation, who works to rehabilitate survivors of torture, joined other human rights charities who were outraged at a torture scene in the game in which the players have to pull teeth andelectrocute an unarmed man in order to extract information. The charity's CEO Keith Best stated: "Rockstar North has crossed a line by effectively forcing people to take on the role of a torturer and perform a series of unspeakable acts if they want to achieve success in the game."[99]
The game has also been accused of sexism. TheLos Angeles Times considered the game's satirical portrayals of women uncreative, and added that violent and sexist themes hurt the game experience.[102]Edge noted that while "every female in the game exists solely to be sneered, leered or laughed at", it treated its all-male lead characters in a similar vein through their stereotyped tendencies towards violence.[103]Sam Houser, Rockstar Games co-founder, felt that the development team sometimes overlooked their portrayal of women inGrand Theft Auto games, but that the weight towards male characters "fit with the story we wanted to tell".[104]
Former lawyerJack Thompson has been involved in a number of attempts to get families of murder victims to hold theGrand Theft Auto series accountable for the death of their loved ones. Due to his conduct in this and related cases, Thompson wasdisbarred in 2008[108] and was fined more than $100,000 by theFlorida Bar Association.[109]
On 20 October 2003, the families of Aaron Hamel and Kimberly Bede, two young people shot by teens William and Josh Buckner (who in statements to investigators claimed their actions were inspired byGrand Theft Auto III) filed a US$246 million lawsuit against publishersRockstar Games,Take-Two Interactive Software, retailerWalmart, and PlayStation 2 manufacturerSony Computer Entertainment America.[110][111] Rockstar and its parent company, Take-Two, filed for dismissal of the lawsuit, stating inUS District Court on 29 October 2003 that the "ideas and concepts as well as the 'purported psychological effects' on the Buckners are protected by theFirst Amendment's free-speech clause". The lawyer of the victims, Jack Thompson, denied that, but failed in his attempt to move the lawsuit into a state court and underTennessee's consumer protection act.[112] Two days later, the plaintiffs filed a Notice of Voluntary Dismissal, and the case was closed.
In February 2005, alawsuit was brought upon the makers and distributors of theGrand Theft Auto series claiming the games caused a teenager to shoot and kill three members of theAlabama police force. The shooting took place in June 2003 whenDevin Moore, 17 years old at the time, was taken in for questioning by police inFayette, Alabama, regarding a stolen vehicle. Moore then grabbed a pistol from one of the police officers and shot and killed him along with another officer and dispatcher before fleeing in a police car.[113][114] One of Moore's attorneys, Jack Thompson, claimed it wasGrand Theft Auto's graphic nature—with his constant playing time—that caused Moore to commit the murders, and Moore's family agrees. Damages were being sought from branches ofGameStop andWal-Mart inJasper, Alabama, the stores from whichGrand Theft Auto III andGrand Theft Auto: Vice City, respectively, were purchased and also from the games' publisherTake-Two Interactive, and thePlayStation 2 manufacturerSony Computer Entertainment. On 29 March 2006 the case was dismissed and permission to appeal was denied.[115]
In May 2005, Jack Thompson appeared via satellite on theGlenn Beck program onCNN'sHeadline News. Thompson mentioned Devin Moore and said, regardingGrand Theft Auto III andGrand Theft Auto: Vice City, "There's no doubt in my mind [...] that but for Devin Moore's training on this cop killing simulator, he would not have been able to kill three cops inFayette, Alabama, who are now dead and in the ground. We are suing Take-Two,Sony, Wal-Mart, and GameStop for having trained Devin Moore to kill. He had no history of violence. No criminal record."[116]
In September 2006, Thompson brought another lawsuit, claiming that Cody Posey played the game obsessively before murdering his father Delbert Paul Posey, stepmother Tryone Schmid, and stepsister Marilea Schmid on a ranch inAlbuquerque, New Mexico. The suit was filed on behalf of the victims' families.[117] The suit alleged that were it not for his obsessive playing ofGrand Theft Auto: Vice City, the murders would not have taken place.[118] Named in the suit were Cody Posey, Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive, and Sony. The suit asked for US$600 million in damages.[119] During the criminal trial, Posey's defence team argued he was abused by his father, and tormented by his stepmother.[120] Posey was also takingZoloft at the time of the killings.[121] The lawsuit was dismissed in December 2007.[122]
Modding ofGrand Theft Auto content, either withinGrand Theft Auto games or recreated via other software, has been generally performed by the player community since around the early 2000s, with one of the first major conversions being the recreation ofGrand Theft Auto III's Liberty City within the game engine runningVice City.[123] Around 2017, Take Two began taking action against these mods, specifically issuing acease & desist letter to the makers ofOpenIV, a piece of software that allowed players to alter content fromGrand Theft Auto IV andV. Take-Two said at the time that its issue was not directly with the mod itself, but that it "enables recentmalicious mods that allow harassment of players and interfere with theGTA Online experience for everybody", and that it was working withOpenIV to find an amenable solution.OpenIV developers opted to remove the mod from circulation after several rounds of discussion with Take-Two.[124] Take-Two issued a statement to clarify that it would not take action against single-player mods;[125] this statement was updated in 2019 to exclude modders from including other Take-Two intellectual property or from "making new games, stories, missions, or maps".[123]
TheGrand Theft Auto modding community worked under this response to continue to build mods and other content within the bounds set by Take-Two.[123] In February 2021, Take-Two, under theDigital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), issued a takedown request for two projects hosted onGitHub that hadreverse-engineered the game engines forGrand Theft Auto III andVice City, asserting that such reverse-engineering was disallowed by the game'sEnd User License Agreement.[126] On 10 June 2021, the project developers filed a counter-notice; per DMCA rules regarding disputes, the source code was restored after two weeks.[127] Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick stated the company has a "pretty flexible" view on user mods, asserting that "if the economy is threatened, or if there's bad behaviour, and we know how to define that, then we would issue a takedown notice".[128] However, the company proceeded to continue to file a lawsuit in California against the programmers behind this effort in September 2021, asserting that the programmers "are well aware that they do not possess the right to copy, adapt, or distribute derivative GTA source code, or the audiovisual elements of the games, and that doing so constitutes copyright infringement."[129] As part of the lawsuit, Take-Two issued another takedown notice to GitHub to remove the mods in October 2021.[130] The modders, in their legal reply, asserted that use of the assets were withinfair use, as the reverse-engineered versions were transformative in nature and, as neither Rockstar nor Take Two had issued any updates for years, did not harm the commercial prospects of the games.[131]
Ever since the release ofGrand Theft Auto III in 2001, theGrand Theft Auto series has been a major success, both critically and financially. It has shipped more than 440 million units,[197] making it one of thebest-selling video game franchises of all time.[198]
The series has broken several records, resulting in Guinness World Records awarding the series 10 world records in theGamer's Edition 2008. These records include Most Guest Stars in a Video Game Series, Largest Voice Cast in a Video Game (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas), Largest In-Game Soundtrack (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) as well as Most Successful Entertainment Launch of All Time (Grand Theft Auto V). Guinness World Records also rankedGrand Theft Auto in third place on their list of top 50 console games of all time based on initial impact and lasting legacy.[200]Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is listed as the most successful game on the PlayStation 2 according toThe Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer's Edition.
Grand Theft Auto III,San Andreas andVice City currently lie at the 2nd, 5th and 6th highest rated PlayStation 2 games onMetacritic, respectively,[201] whileChinatown Wars is rated the best game on the Nintendo DS[202] and the second best on thePlayStation Portable,[203] andGrand Theft Auto IV is currently rated the second best game ever, with a score of 98, only trailing behindThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Also,Vice City andGrand Theft Auto V lie at 11th and 2nd best PC games of all time, on Metacritic.[204][205] Along with this,The Lost and Damned andThe Ballad of Gay Tony are currently placed 35th and 59th in the top Xbox 360 games.[206]
During interviews to mark the 10th anniversary of the release ofGrand Theft Auto III, producer of theStreet Fighter series,Yoshinori Ono, said "It would be no exaggeration to say thatGrand Theft Auto III changed the industry, and we can basically separate the time before and after its emergence as distinct eras." In the same articleBethesda Game Studios director,Todd Howard, said "The mark of a truly great game is how many people try to recapture or emulate it and fail. There's a long line behind this one."[219]
^In later games, San Andreas is depicted as a state, mostly based onCalifornia andNevada, while a new city based on San Francisco, San Fierro, is instead featured. Two additional cities, Los Santos (based onLos Angeles) and Las Venturas (based onLas Vegas) also exist in the state of San Andreas.
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