History of GTA: origins, impacts on gaming and the future

Grand Theft Auto or “GTA” as fans of the games and general gamers alike call it, is a long-running game series that has an emphasis on open world exploring, following a main character and a specific story. The setting and characters of the series changes from game to game, with some of the most popular locations being San Andreas and Vice City (a fictional version of Miami)—which the series is returning to the upcoming GTAVI.

We’ll delve into the history of the hugely popular and sometimes controversial franchise.

Grand Theft Auto, one of the highest-selling games in history has an interesting origin story, the first game beginning development with the title Race ‘n’ Chase, before taking on the name Grand Theft Auto, it was made by developers DMA design—now known as Rockstar North Limited. Grand Theft Auto was released in 1997 for the PC and PlayStation One, it was an open world RPG made of six levels based in three cities, which were in turn based on real places in the US.

The original Grand Theft Auto looked very different as it had a top-down perspective, following a main character in the criminal underworld trying to accumulate points to progress, the game was met with mixed reviews but still did well commercially. A notable point in the history of the franchise is Grand Theft Auto III, which came out in 2001 and was the first game to be fully 3D, setting up the foundation for the games as most gamers are familiar with. Grand Theft Auto III was set in Liberty City, which can be seen as a fictional version of New York City and was a commercial and critical success.

Grand Theft Auto has been a pioneering game in the video game industry, with each iteration pushing the limits and scope of open world action games, including more depth and detail.

The games usually feature celebrity voice actors for their characters including Dennis Hopper, Samuel L Jackson and James Woods to name a few, a trend which has carried on in multiple games to this day. The games also include in-game radio stations representing historical periods of time (eg the 1980s for GTA: Vice City). Grand Theft Auto can also be largely credited for popularising the open world sandbox genre of game, including directly inspiring other series like Saints Row, Watch Dogs and Assassins’ Creed to name a few.

GTA has caused a stir in gaming during its illustrious run, being an easy target for lawmakers to cite video games as a bad influence on children, due to the games often focusing on criminal main characters and giving players free reign to act however they want to in the game. Though you’ll have to engage in shady activities to progress the story, ultimately you can play the games however you want to, which is part of their appeal.

Grand Theft Auto is a hugely successful series and one of the highest-selling video game franchises—GTA is the fastest entertainment product in history to make $1bn. The latest game released in the series GTAV has sold an incredible 185 million copies on its own, making it one of the most popular video games of all time. While lifetime sales of the series as a whole are around 410 million units, firmly placing it in illustrious company among the top 10 best-selling game franchises of all time.

Grand Theft Auto can also boast several world records from its games, including the most guest stars in a video game series, the largest in-game soundtrack (GTA San Andreas) and the most successful entertainment launch of all time (GTAV).

The megahit GTAV came out in 2013, now over a decade ago and fans of the series have long been awaiting its sequel, GTAVI. The video game industry has long speculated on a release date, guessing every year from 2018, to 2020 but Rockstar always remained tight lipped on information. However, in the last few years, there seemed to be more solid tips on a new game being in development and this was officially confirmed by the developer in December 2023, with a full trailer being released. GTAVI looks to promise even further improved graphical fidelity and detail in NPCs, the cars, buildings and environments around the in-game city, building on the foundation of the last game.

So after a long ten-year gap, Grand Theft Auto will officially be returning, and GTAVI specifically will be returning to the fictional Vice City, now in an updated modern setting as opposed to the 1980s, like GTA: Vice City.

One thing is clear, Grand Theft Auto shows no sign of slowing down and what we can expect is the usual—a quirky cast of characters, elaborate missions and an overarching story, of course with the freedom to do whatever you want. GTAVI is slated for a 2025 release.

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