• The Grand Theft Auto franchise can be split into three eras: 2D Timeline, 3D Timeline and HD Timeline.
• Historically, Grand Theft Auto games were set in an historic period, from the ’60s to the ’90s. Now, they tend to be set in present-day.
• Grand Theft Auto VI, the newest instalment, will release in November 2026.

It’s easy to put little weight on the overarching narrative of Rockstar’s wildly successful Grand Theft Auto series. Every game seems to tell some variation of the same story: A small-time criminal starts taking on more and more dangerous jobs until, finally, they find themselves at the top of the underworld. Each instalment comes with enough new gameplay and design features integrated to make each new release a monumental gaming occasion.

After all, there’s a reason other games are doing their best to avoid launching near the upcoming GTA VI. Being touted as the most anticipated release in gaming history, it’s all anyone’s going to be playing for months come launch day, 19 November 2026.

However, Rockstar has actually managed to weave quite a few game-spanning storylines and references to older entries throughout the series, despite confirming that the franchise’s overarching world is split across multiple timelines. These worlds are similar enough, but allow Rockstar’s writers more freedom in creating the stories and worlds we play through in each series, while also allowing each player to affect the world in their own way.

What Is The Chronological Timeline Of The Grand Theft Auto Franchise?

Rockstar breaks the series down in three distinct eras. The original series is referred to the 2D timeline, the breakout success of the PS2 generation’s games is the 3D timeline, and the franchise’s current crop of titles taking place with a revised HD timeline.

In the lead up to GTA VI, we’ll break down all three of these timelines and fit their respective games into a wider chronology.

The Grand Theft Auto 2D Timeline

While Grand Theft Auto‘s original timeline unsurprisingly kicked off with the launch of the first mainline title, Rockstar released a one-two punch of expansions to its first foray into top-down vehicular manslaughter, both of which took place earlier in the timeline.

The 2D timeline actually begins with the second expansion pack, London 1961, before progressing to the previous release, London 1969. From there, the timeline jumps the pond to the U.S., where it follows the original Grand Theft Auto and its sequel, GTA 2.

‘Grand Theft Auto: London 1961‘

• Year Released: 1999
• Timeline: 1961
• Copies Sold: 100,000

The final expansion pack developed for the original GTA takes players back to the earliest playable point in the series’ timeline, and is one of only two GTA games to take place outside of Rockstar’s fictionalised version of the United States. 

In London 1961 you choose one of eight characters to play as, working for the Cartwright Gang, and undertake missions which take you around London, largely with the aim of undermining the operations of rival gang leaders, and expanding your own operations.

‘Grand Theft Auto: London 1969‘

• Year Released: 1999
• Timeline: 1969
• Copies Sold: 100,000

Despite launching first, London 1969 serves as a direct continuation of the world of London 1961, with the player choosing from the same cast of characters and working alongside the Cartwright Gang to expand their criminal empire. However, things get complicated when the gang’s benefactors, the Crisp Twins, begin to believe they’re being betrayed by the gang’s leader, Harold Cartwright. Of course, you’re stuck right in the middle of it.

You’ll again be completing missions for underground warlords vying for power, while attempting to make a name for yourself in a burgeoning criminal empire. Just try not to get double-crossed yourself, yeah?

‘Grand Theft Auto‘

• Year Released: 1997
• Timeline: 1997
• Copies Sold: 6,000,000

The world’s first taste of what would come to be known as one of the greatest entertainment franchises in history, Grand Theft Auto was controversial from the very beginning. In fact, Rockstar hired a publicist to court controversy as an easy marketing strategy, and it worked like a charm. 

Here, you play as a silent criminal who works for various crime families across Liberty City, Vice City, and San Andreas, ranging from menial grunt work and getaway driving to more involved missions plotting the downfall of rival gangs. Throughout the title you’ll shift between the three locations, working with a new faction each time, in an attempt to turn a dangerous life of crime into a comfortable retirement, and creating plenty of enemies in the meantime. 

‘Grand Theft Auto 2‘

• Year Released: 1999
• Timeline: 1999-2013
• Copies Sold: 2,000,000

Set an ambiguous amount of time after the events of the first game, GTA 2 marks a major change in the series, you’re now playing as an actual character: Claude Speed, a rising criminal in the vaguely retrofuturistic metropolis of Anywhere City.

Yes, GTA 2 doesn’t take place in any of the series’ staple locations, but instead is located in a strange mishmash of urban design, combining ’50s motifs with futuristic, sci-fi elements. In fact, this aesthetic is one that, so far, has never been revisited by the franchise.

While being a bit of an outlier, GTA 2 does deliver a stronger gameplay experience on its predecessor, with rival gangs operating within Anywhere City that Speed can align with. You can gain their respect by completing missions or eliminating rival gang members. If you get enough respect from individual gangs, you’ll unlock more rewarding missions, thereby encouraging players to pick a side in a deadly game of territorial control.

Grand Theft Auto 3D Timeline

While the 2D games certainly built Grand Theft Auto into a known entity, the launch of Grand Theft Auto III in 2001 would radically transform not only the franchise but gaming entirely. It essentially wrote the book on what good open-world game design would look like for decades to come. While the events of the 2D games are treated a sort-of quasi-canon, Rockstar decided that, since they were taking the series into a new direction, they didn’t want to be held down by the events of their prior work.

So, while Liberty City, Vice City, and San Andreas still exist within the 3D timeline, GTA 2‘s Anywhere City is never mentioned again.

‘Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories‘

• Year Released: 2006
• Timeline: 1984
• Copies Sold: 4,500,000

Kicking off the 3D timeline is Vice City Stories, a side-entry originally launched for Sony’s PSP handheld. The game follows Victor Vance, a U.S. army corporal involved in a drug trafficking ring to pay for his brother’s medication. However, after being framed for a deal gone bad and losing his place in the army, Vance turns deeper into criminal acts in order to keep himself afloat.

Vice City Stories answers the question of ‘what would GTA look like in the 1980s?’ Well, it looks like a drug-and-crime riddled version of Miami Vice, of course.

‘Grand Theft Auto: Vice City‘

• Year Released: 2002
• Timeline: 1986
• Copies Sold: 20,000,000

Taking place two years after the events of Vice City Stories, Vice City follows a new protagonist, Tommy Vercetti, as he fights through the ranks of the city’s criminal underworld. Working together with Victor Vance’s brother Lance (yes, Lance Vance), Vercetti slowly but surely makes a name for himself in a town that wanted him dead.

When compared to the other two mainline games in the 3D timeline, Vice City delivers a brighter and more idealised sandbox for the player to explore, reflecting the hope and optimism of the ’80s. However, if GTA has taught us anything, even the prettiest of cityscapes have a rotten underbelly.

‘Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas‘

• Year Released: 2004
• Timeline: 1992
• Copies Sold: 30,000,000

The culmination of the 3D-era’s experimentation, San Andreas is considered one of the best games in the series. This title follows the story of Carl Johnson (C.J.), a former local who has returned to the city after the death of his mother. He’s quickly recruited into his old gang, Grove Street, in order to protect his friends and family from further violence. 

While Vice City was focused on the big hair and soaring synths of the ’80s, San Andreas instead took to the ’90s hip-hop culture while presenting a fictionalised version of L.A.‘s notorious gang wars.

San Andreas also took the focus on player-driven fun to the next level, allowing the character C.J. to be far more customisable than previous protagonists. Eating too much bad food makes him gain weight, and taking time out to go to the gym makes him stronger. 

‘Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories‘

• Year Released: 2005
• Timeline: 1998
• Copies Sold: 8,000,000

Liberty City Stories shows what the dirty and dangerous city looked like in the late ’90s, directly leading into many of the changes seen in GTA III. You play as Toni Cipriani, a member of the Leone crime mafia who returns to the city after four years in hiding. Sliding right back into the organisation, Cipriani begins work eliminating the Leone family’s rivals, turning it into the dominant Mafia organisation in the city.

‘Grand Theft Auto Advance‘

• Year Released: 2004
• Timeline: 2000
• Copies Sold: 240,000

While initially conceived as a direct port of GTA III in the style of the original 2D games, GTA Advance eventually morphed into a prequel taking place one year prior. Here, you play as Mike, a small-time criminal with plans to escape Liberty City with his friend, Vinnie. Unfortunately, a car bombing kills Vinnie and wipes all of the duo’s cash. This leaves Mike no choice but to return to crime and figure out who killed his friend.

While the game takes place firmly within the 3D-era’s timeline, Advance utilises the gameplay of the original series: viewed from a top-down perspective. However, the game launched on the same day as San Andreas, and was largely overshadowed.

‘Grand Theft Auto III‘

• Year Released: 2001
• Timeline: 2001
• Copies Sold: 17,500,000

GTA III has served as the benchmark for open-world video games for the past 25 years. Despite launching early in the PlayStation 2’s lifecycle, GTA III delivered a world bigger than anyone expected. With a free-form gameplay loop, you could perform missions, steal any car or simply walk the streets of the surprisingly-detailed Liberty City. It might look dated today, but GTA III was revolutionary and maybe one of the most important video games ever made.

You play as Claude, a criminal betrayed by his partner Catalina during a bank heist who ends up sentenced to 10 years in prison. However, after a daring escape during a prison transfer, Claude works for the crime families across the city with the goal of finding Catalina and getting some much-deserved revenge. 

Rockstar hinted that this Claude may-or-may-not be the same Claude we pilot in GTA 2, but given the separate timelines, try not to think too hard about that.

Grand Theft Auto HD Timeline

Now, we find ourselves in the most recent, and still ongoing, timeline of the GTA universe: the HD timeline. Again, while there are certain similarities between the HD timeline and the 3D timeline, Rockstar isn’t tied to any sort of canon across new games.

For example, did you know that GTA VI is taking place in the state of Leonida, which houses Vice City? And did you know that Vice City was said to be in Florida in every prior game? It’s not a huge deal, but it just goes to show that things can and will change between each game if Rockstar comes up with a better idea.

‘Grand Theft Auto IV‘

• Year Released: 2008
• Timeline: 2008
• Copies Sold: 25,000,000

Kicking off the HD-era is the story of Niko Bellic—a Yugoslav immigrant fresh off the boat to Liberty City with a vision of a new life, but also revenge. Niko is after two men who might be involved in the betrayal of his former military unit, and falls deep into the criminal underworld of Liberty City alongside his cousin, Roman. They get closer to the truth, but not without ingratiating themselves in the corrupted capitalism of his new home.

While GTA has always been tongue-in-cheek with the way it portrays the ‘American Dream’ (the idea that anyone has the opportunity to succeed in the U.S. with enough initiative) GTA IV, released and set amidst the Global Financial Crisis, is a much more sober reflection. It’s a portrait of what a recession-laden America looks like to those without a trust fund to fall back on.

‘Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned‘

• Year Released: 2009
• Timeline: 2008
• Copies Sold: 2,000,000

GTA IV‘s first expansion, The Lost and Damned, takes you to a different side of Liberty City. Taking place during the same timeframe as Niko Bellic’s adventure is the story of Johnny Klebitz. Klebitz is a member of The Lost Motorcycle Club who finds himself riding between loyalty and betrayal when he starts questioning the actions of his violent and immature gang leader. 

The Lost and Damned further interrogates the unfair, unjust economic system holding Liberty City together, with Johnny, by all accounts a dangerous thug, often working for the city’s rich and powerful as a means of furthering their reach without getting their hands dirty.

‘Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony‘

• Year Released: 2009
• Timeline: 2008
• Copies Sold: 2,000,000

While The Lost and Damned told the story of Liberty City through the lens of dangerous motorcycle gangs, The Ballad of Gay Tony instead turns to the city’s seedy nightclubs. Players control Luis Lopez, a bouncer at the high-end nightclub Maisonette 9. His father figure, Anthony ‘Gay Tony’ Prince, owns the club, and is in deep debt. Throughout the game, Lopez will deal with vapid celebrities, socialites, mobsters, loan sharks, and corrupt federal agents in an effort to keep Tony’s nightclub empire afloat.

After a deal goes bad (thanks to the events of The Lost and Damned), Luis and Tony end up embroiled in a wide-ranging conspiracy to retrieve a missing package of diamonds before the pair disappear forever.

‘Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars‘

• Year Released: 2009
• Timeline: 2009
• Copies Sold: 660,000

Chinatown Wars is an interesting game in the series for a number of reasons. It features cell-shaded graphics, a series first, as well as an isometric 2.5D camera system that allows for more freedom in camera control while harking back to the earlier games’ top-down perspective. 

As the only GTA game to focus on an Asian Triad gang, this entry puts players in the role of Huang Lee (still based out of Liberty City, of course). Lee’s a spoiled son seeking revenge after the assassination of his father, along with the theft of their family’s ancestral sword. It’s a slightly different take on Rockstar’s usual gang-laden narratives, bringing family and culture deeper into the mix. 

‘Grand Theft Auto V‘

• Year Released: 2013
• Timeline: 2013
• Copies Sold: 220,000,000

Easily the series’ most successful entry, Grand Theft Auto V holds the title of second-best-selling game of all time (at least until we see how GTA VI performs). It’s the culmination and evolution of everything the series is, delivering one of the most fully-formed, feature-rich open-world games on the market. 

Taking place in an expanded San Andreas, GTA V follows three protagonists, Michael De Santa, Franklin Clinton, and Trevor Philips. The trio team up to take on increasingly dangerous heists, finding themselves in the crosshairs of the feds, gangs, and other criminals looking to take advantage of the tenuous relationship between the three.

‘Grand Theft Auto Online‘

• Year Released: 2013
• Timeline: 2013—onward
• Copies Sold: ~220,000,000

Launching a few weeks after GTA V, GTA Online allows players to create their own criminal for the first time. Players can let their character loose in the open sandbox of San Andreas along with up to 30 other players for the first time. While the story initially kicked off as a prequel to the main GTA V narrative, it has since moved well beyond Michael, Franklin and Trevor’s story and continues to expand the longer the game remains relevant. With over 4 million daily players some 13 years after release, it seems the only thing that will dethrone GTA Online‘s success is… whatever Rockstar does next.

‘Grand Theft Auto VI‘

• Release Date: November 19, 2026
• Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S

Rockstar’s long-awaited follow-up to GTA V is finally dropping later this year, in one of the most anticipated releases in gaming history. While Rockstar has been pretty quiet on where the narrative will take the players, fans expect the game takes place in an in-universe 2026, following the trend of the HD timeline. In GTA VI, you’ll play as dual protagonist pair Lucia and Jason as they navigate the seedier side of Vice City. Only one thing’s certain: players will no doubt come up against law enforcement, rival gangs, and deeper federal conspiracies in their quest to make a life together work.

For all details regarding how to pre-order GTA 6, as well as pricing, check out our guide here.

All ‘Grand Theft Auto’ Games By Release Order

If you’d instead prefer to play through the series in release order, and enjoy the continual improvements in open-world design, gameplay variety, and storytelling quality, here’s a full list of every GTA game in release order.

1. Grand Theft Auto (1997)
2. Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 (1999)
3. Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 (1999)
4. Grand Theft Auto 2 (1999)
5. Grand Theft Auto 3 (2001)
6. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002)
7. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004)
8. Great Theft Auto Advance (2004)
9. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (2005)
10. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (2006)
11. Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)
12. Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and the Damned (2009)
13. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (2009)
14. Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony (2009)
15. Grand Theft Auto V (2013)
16. Grand Theft Auto Online (2013)
17. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition (2021)
18. Grand Theft Auto VI (2026)

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