The Grand Theft Auto series is well known all around the world. First released in 1997 by a company called DMA Designs, now widely known as Rockstar Games. The series was originally called ‘race n Chase’ where you played as a police officer. Before changing the idea and almost canceling the series altogether. Excluding re-releases and remasters, there have been 15 games for the series in the last 21 years. Check out the timeline of the releases below. (Remasters and rereleases are excluded from this list)
GTA 5 next-gen update release date Rockstar confirmed that GTA 5 would be coming back in June, releasing a trailer that combined some of the iconic moments from the single-player story with GTA Online hijinx. GTA 5 will offer enhanced visuals for next-gen consoles, and a standalone version of GTA Online will also be released. This will be free on PS5 for three months upon its arrival. The Rockstar Games Launcher is a new Windows desktop application that allows you to quickly and easily access your Rockstar Games PC collection in a single place, across both digital and disc-based. Using GTA IV as reference, the GI issue featuring that game was 5 months before the original release date (May-October). Given that, GTA V could have a release in May 2013. Looking at all of the above, we could see the GTA 5 release date to be announced sometime in late 2012, with an actual release in early 2013.
You can see the release dates, developer and publishers, the main protagonist, game location and what Universe the game is part of.
Grand Theft Auto 1
Release Date: 21st October 1998
Developer: DMA Designs
Publisher: BMG Interactive
Protagonist: Players choice
Location: Liberty City, Vice City & San Andreas
Universe: 2D Universe
Grand Theft Auto: London 1969
Release date: 31st March 1999
Developer: Rockstar Canada
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Protagonist: Players choice
Location: London
Universe: 2D Universe
Grand Theft Auto: London 1961
Release date: 1st July 1999
Developer: Rockstar Canada
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Protagonist: Players choice
Location: London
Universe: 2D Universe
Grand Theft Auto 2
Release date: 22nd October 1999
Developer: DMA Designs
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Protagonist: Claude Speed
Location: Anywhere city
Universe: 2D Universe
Grand Theft Auto: III
Release date: 21st October 2001
Developer: DMA Design
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Protagonist: Claude
Location: Liberty City
Universe: 3D Universe
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Release date: 27th October 2002
Developer: Rockstar North
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Protagonist: Tommy Vercetti
Location: Vice City
Universe: 3D Universe
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Release date: 26th October 2004
Developer: Rockstar North
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Protagonist: Carl Johnson
Location: San Andreas
Universe: 3D Universe
Grand Theft Auto: Advance
Release date: 26th October 2004
Developer: Digital Eclipse
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Protagonist: Mike
Location: Liberty City
Universe: 3D Universe
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
Release date: 24th October 2005
Developer: Rockstar Leeds & Rockstar North
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Protagonist: Toni Cipriani
Location: Liberty City
Universe: 3D Universe
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
Release date: 31st October 2006
Developer: Rockstar Leeds & Rockstar North
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Protagonist: Victor Vance
Location: Vice City
Universe: 3D Universe
Gta 5 Mac Release Date 2020
Grand Theft Auto IV
Release date: 29th April 2008
Developer: Rockstar North
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Protagonist: Niko Bellic
Location: Liberty City
Universe: HD Universe
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned
Release date: 17th February 2009
Developer: Rockstar North
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Protagonist: Johnny Klebitz
Location: Liberty City
Universe: HD Universe
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony
Release date: 29th October 2009
Developer: Rockstar North
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Protagonist: Luis Lopez
Location: Liberty City
Universe: HD Universe
Grand Theft Auto V
Release date: 17th September 2013
Developer: Rockstar North
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Protagonist: Michael De Santa, Franklin Clinton & Trevor Phillips
Location: Los Santos
Universe: HD Universe
Grand Theft Auto: Online
Release date: 1st October 2013
Developer: Rockstar North
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Protagonist: Players choice
Location: Los Santos
Universe: HD Universe
© Provided by Pocket-lint Grand Theft Auto 6 Release date platforms and everything you need to know image 1(Pocket-lint) - It feels like only yesterday that Rockstar Games was releasing its critically-acclaimed Red Dead Redemption 2, letting us loose into a massive frontier world of bandits and shoot-outs. It surely can't have been that long beforehand when it set loose the insanely successful Grand Theft Auto 5, can it?
Well, it very much can, actually. GTA 5 may have since been re-released to lengthen its lifespan, but it originally came out in 2013. A lot has changed since then, and with a new generation of consoles finally released, comprising the PS5 and Xbox Series X, rumours are starting to spin that the next game in Rockstar's most famous franchise could be on its way.
We've gathered everything we know about Grand Theft Auto 6 right here for your delectation — let's get down to it.
GTA 6 release date
Starting with possible release dates, it's worth giving you a bit of background. While GTA 5 released in 2013, Rockstar couldn't immediately turn its full attention to developing a sequel. It apparently did start work on GTA 6 in 2014, but meanwhile had the small matter of Red Dead Redemption 2 to make, let alone the PC, PS4 and Xbox One versions of GTA 5, and the PC and Google Stadia versions of Red Dead Redemption 2.
All of those take work, but are now out of the way. That's the logic applied to a recent leak, purportedly from a playtester who's been in contact with GTA 6 during development. That source, which remains uncorroborated, suggests that Rockstar is aiming for a 2021 release date.
Now that we're into 2021, we're not hugely confident about that, though - that would mean Rockstar announcing and releasing the game within a year, which isn't too common, and we've heard nothing official yet.
Nonetheless, recent rumours suggest that a 2021 teaser announcement could be close, thanks to some strange artwork teases posted by the developer and a 'private' video found lurking on its YouTube channel. Still, we think it's most likely that the game will be fully released in 2022, taking Rockstar's trademark delays into account.
(1/2)With the help of @SWEGTA's new YouTube video, I finally realized that Rockstar is gearing up to announce something. Now at GTAVINR we sincerely hope it's GTA 6. With a good chance that it will be but putting all the pieces together, a few months ago R* posted a job listing
— GTA VI News & Leaks (@GTAVINR) March 5, 2020That all said, another kernel of information can apply here, in the form of Rockstar North's 2020 claims for UK Tax Relief. There's a bit of controversy rumbling over whether you can really call the likes of GTA and Red Dead Redemption 2 'culturally British', as the tax scheme requires, but nonetheless Rockstar's accounting shows a steady flow of tax relief in recent years.
As pointed out by Tax Watch, this is suggestive of continuous development, and some are using it as an indication that GTA 6 is underway. That's a bit of a stretch, since the tax claim is entirely generic and doesn't mention any franchises, but still - we know they're up to something!
Now, there's another option here - 2K, which publishes the Grand Theft Auto series, recently updated its fiscal plans to allow for a much-increased spend on marketing in 2023, some time off for now. In fact, it expects to spend double what it has planned for 2021 and 2022. That's fuelled speculation that it expects to be marketing the next GTA game in 2023, and will be spending big bucks on it.
We also had even more fuel poured onto the fire by a report from Jason Schreier over at Kotaku, looking as he had before at the work culture at Rockstar, which is famously demanding. The report mentions that according to his sources the next Grand Theft Auto is indeed in the works, but remained at an early stage of development.
All this adds up to the same picture, roughly - the next GTA is definitely on the way, but you shouldn't get your hopes up that it'll appear soon.
Gta 5 Pc Release Date
Gallery: The best 48, 49, and 50-inch 4K Smart TVs 2021: Get a great Ultra HD TV for your home (Pocket-lint)
GTA 6 platforms
Probably the other key detail contained in that first big leak around GTA 6 concerned the platforms it's likely to release on. Obviously, GTA 5 came out toward the tail end of a console generation, releasing on the PS3 and Xbox 360, then being re-released with better performance and graphics on the next set of consoles.
Apparently, that pattern won't be repeated with GTA 6, though. The leak suggests that the game will be exclusive to the Playstation 5 and Microsoft's Xbox Series X and S.
Given that those consoles will likely have been out for at least a year upon release, that's entirely credible.
However, given that Red Dead Redemption 2 took a lot less time to come to PC players than GTA 5 did years ago, it would be slightly surprising if GTA 6 doesn't also make its way to PC within a year of release.
GTA 6 gameplay
Waiting for details on a new GTA game generally involves one major area of speculation - where will it be set? While characters and storylines are just as subject to interesting details, there's something about GTA's setting that feels like the most pivotal choice Rockstar has to make. Whether it's Liberty City, Los Santos or another metropolitan area, the playground in which players will run riot is a big question mark hanging over the game.
At the moment this is where speculation is focused, with GTA Online players at one point becoming convinced that GTA 6 will take place in Vice City, GTA 3's much-loved, neon-soaked alternative version of Miami. The reasoning behind this? GTA Online's racing DLC, Open Wheels, has a race circuit that looks suspiciously like the outline of a map that would include Miami, as well as a chunk of Mexico. The outline does look fairly clear, as you can see in the image below, but obviously Rockstar is keeping its own counsel at this stage.
This idea had a little bit more detail added to it by an alleged leak, which purportedly came via the friend of a disgruntled ex-Rockstar employee. If the information is to be believed, the game will be set in Florida, and have a map bigger than GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 combined, covering three cities including Vice City. Players will apparently be able to control four different protagonists, expanding on GTA 5's three main characters.
Now fresh rumours have circulated that this roster will include a female playable character for the first time in the series, something that's long overdue in our minds. The info comes courtesy of Tom Henderson, a longtime leaker who's made accurate claims in the past.
For the first time ever in a GTA title, GTA 6 will have a playable female and male protagonist. #GTA6#GTAVI
— Tom Henderson (@_TomHenderson_) January 10, 2021There have also been suggestions elsewhere that Liberty City (from GTA III), San Andreas (from GTA: San Andreas, natch), and the Midwest could feature, or maybe even all of the above for different sections.
Regardless, expect the game to push the boundaries of what the new hardware from Sony and Microsoft is capable of. There's no guarantee that the game world will be bigger and more detailed than the map from GTA 5, but that's certainly how things seem to be trending.
GTA 6 story
Gta V Release Date
The main story of each GTA game so far has involved criminality, as a rule, but the exact flavour is always up for change. A crucial bit of information when it comes to GTA 6's narrative is that Rockstar's co-founder, Dan Houser, left the studio in March 2020.
That means that one of the studio's key tastemakers and writers has departed, someone who, together with his brother Sam, has shaped the franchise's tone from the very beginning.
Now, on the one hand, given the likely timing of the game there's a good chance that Dan Houser was able to have solid input and impact on the script and story before his departure. On the other, if he was on his way out it's very possible that he wasn't nearly so involved. That means we could be in for a change of voice for GTA 6.
Exactly how that would manifest is hard to guess at, but it's an interesting development for Rockstar, that's for sure.
We'll keep adding more details to this round-up as and when new information comes out or actual announcements are made, so be sure to keep checking back.