The complete GTA timeline: Every Grand Theft Auto game so far in chronological order

The GTA 6 trailer is coming – confirmed by Rockstar via a solitary social media image this week. So far, all we really know for certain is that the GTA 6 trailer release time is 9am ET / 2pm UK on Tuesday, December 5. The sunset colors and palm tree silhouettes certainly suggest a return to the Miami-inspired Vice City setting – a rumor the Grand Theft Auto community has subscribed to ever since the GTA 6 leaks of last year – but we're otherwise in the dark about, well, pretty much everything regarding the next slice of the long-standing open-world crime simulator series. 

Which makes now a good time to cast our eyes back over the series to date. The GTA timeline spans several decades across multiple entries in the series. And while each game is its own self-contained thing, with some connections and spin-offs, the wider GTA series can be broken up by its 2D, 3D, and HD universes – the canonical groupings that divide installments. From the top-down 2D games (from 1997), to the 3D era that was kicked off by GTA 3 (2001), we then saw the series venture into the realms of HD with GTA 4 (2008) and continue with the ever-popular GTA 5 (2013). 

With games set in the 60s, 80s, 90s, 00s, and beyond, one of the biggest debates right now is just where GTA 6 will fit into the GTA timeline when it eventually lands. Perhaps we'll finally get some clues about its direction soon with the impending trailer, which has just been teased with some very Vice City-like palm trees.  

If you're looking for a refresher on the GTA timeline, or you want a chronological overview of the series as we prepare for GTA 6, read on below for a full recap. 

The GTA timeline in chronological order

Grand Theft Auto: London 1961

Release date: June 1, 1999
Platform: PC 

London 1961 is an expansion released for the original Grand Theft Auto on PC that takes place in, as the name gives away, London, England in 1961. With the signature top-down style of the early GTA games of the 2D universe, the entry is set prior to the events of the first expansion, London 1969. 

Involving various missions across the streets of the city for the Cartwright gang, you can choose to play as one of eight selectable protagonists with their own default names – including the likes of Rodney Morash, Wolfie Vilans, and Winston Henry, among others.

Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 

Release date: April 30, 1999
Platform(s): PS1, PC

Fast forward eight years, and we arrive at the first expansion for the original Grand Theft Auto, which is also set in London. With 1961 acting as a kind of prequel to 1969, the latter entry was released on both PC and PS1 and also introduces a helping of new missions in the capital city at the tail end of the '60s. You can choose from the same lineup of set protagonists found in 1961 (albeit slightly older) as you get stuck into the world of organized crime on the streets of London.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories

Release date: October 31, 2006
Platform(s): PSP, PS2  

Set in 1984 and falling under the 3D timeline, Vice City Stories first released on the PSP before eventually getting ported to the PS2. As a prequel to Vice City, Stories takes place in the same area based on real-world Miami, and follows the journey of ex-soldier Victor Vance, who sets out to build up his own criminal empire alongside his brother Lance. As a tie-in that takes place prior to Tommy Vercetti's rise to power, Stories plays out much like Vice City, with several core missions and an open-world environment you're free to explore. The biggest difference, though, is that Rocktar's take on Miami looks a little different, since it takes place a few years earlier.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City 

Release date: October 29, 2002
Platform(s): PC, PS2, Xbox, iOS, Android

Ah, we can hear the tunes of Flash FM now. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City took us to the sandy beaches of a fictionalized take on Miami in 1986. Following the story of Tony Vercetti who's newly released from prison, we're thrown into a world of warring gangs, drugs, and bullet-fueled missions as Tony rises up to power. Complete with an excellent soundtrack of signature tunes from the '80s, Vice City really puts you right into the era. Originally released on the PS2 and PC, it also later landed on Xbox.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas 

Release date: October 26, 2004
Platform(s): PC, PS2, Xbox, PS3, Xbox 360, iOS, Android  

Playing as Carl "CJ" Johnson, we got the chance to BMX bike our way through the fictional US state of San Andreas, which draws inspiration from California. Set in the early '90s, the story follows CJ as he returns home from Los Santos after the murder of his mother. Now determined to go up against the gang that were responsible for his mother's death, CJ gets caught up in the world of crime, dealing with corrupt law enforcement and plenty of action across the state. As the largest game that falls under the 3D universe, San Andreas' sense of scale is still impressive to this day.

Grand Theft Auto 

Release date: November 28, 1997
Platform(s): PC, PS1, Game Boy Color 

The game that started it all. The original Grand Theft Auto had a top-down 2D format, and took place across three different cities – San Andreas, Liberty City, and Vice City – that would of course go on to serve as the backdrop for some of the later entries. Released in 1997, the game's setting reflected the current day, which places it in the late '90s, before it got the 60s treatment with expansions. First arriving on PC and PS1, it also later came to the Game Boy Color in 1999, and followed the story of an unnamed protagonist who helps out gangs to build up their reputation on the streets.

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories

Release date: October 24, 2005
Platform(s): PSP, PS2

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories takes place in 1998 as a prequel to GTA 3, which is set three years later. Originally released on the PSP in 2005, the game also later got ported to the PS2 and follows the story of Toni Cipriani who returns to Liberty City after he was forced to leave for his involvement in the murder of a mafia member. Once back in the city, Cipriani gets back to working for his boss Don Salvatore Leone. With various missions that establish the Leone family's power in the city, the story sets up the scene for the events of GTA 3.

GTA 2

Release date: October 22, 1999
Platform(s): PC, PS1, Game Boy Color, Dreamcast 

GTA 2 is a bit of an odd duck in the series timeline. While it also has the same top-down format as the original, it moves away from the established cities we saw in later games to take us into three different districts in a retro-futuristic city known as Anywhere, USA. When it's set in terms of the year is also uncertain, since the game doesn't outright state it, with references suggesting it could be either 1999 or even 2013. As the last entry in the 2D universe, you take on the role of Claude Speed who takes on jobs for various major gangs in the city to build up his reputation.

Grand Theft Auto Advance 

Release date: October 26, 2004
Platform: Game Boy Advance

Set in the year 2000, Grand Theft Auto Advance took us to a version of Liberty City that was made for the handheld console. Serving as a kind of prequel to GTA 3 not unlike Liberty City Stories, GTA Advance follows the story of a criminal called Mike who sets out to try and avenge his partner Vinnie who's killed in an explosion. As Mike tries to get to the bottom of the murder, he takes on several jobs with various prominent figures in the criminal underworld of the city.

Grand Theft Auto 3 

Release date: October 23, 2001
Platform: PS2, PC, Xbox, iOS, Android

Ushering us into the 3D era proper, GTA 3 takes us to the year 2001 in Liberty City as robber Claude (not to be confused with Claude Speed of GTA 2 fame). During a bank heist, Claude is betrayed by his girlfriend and arrested. While sentenced to prison for 10 years, Claude makes a break for it during a prison transfer, which kickstarts his life of crime as he flees to the city and begins working for the Mafia. Released in the same year it was set on PS2, it later released on PC and Xbox, and gave us our first proper taste of the 3D open-world direction the series would take going forwards.

Grand Theft Auto 4

Release date: April 28, 2008
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, PC

After GTA 3 came GTA 4, the first game in the HD era of the series that built on what came before. Once again set in Liberty City, we take on the role of Niko Bellic, an Eastern-European war veteran who heads to the city to reunite with his cousin Roman. After discovering that Roman isn't living the high life, Niko sets out to find work and gets swept up in seedy dealings in Liberty City's underbelly. With various memorable missions and a vast open-world, it quickly became one of the biggest games to release on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Grand Theft Auto 4: The Lost and Damned, and The Ballad of Gay Tony

Release date(s): February 17, 2009; October 29, 2009
Platform(s): Xbox 360, PC, PS3

GTA 4's two comprehensive single-player story expansions, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, are among the best narrative outings the Grand Theft Auto series as a whole has to offer. The former focuses on the exploits of motorcycle gang member Johnny Klebitz; with the latter following the same timeline but from the perspective of nightclub promoter Anthony "Gay Tony" Prince. Both expansions unfold during the same cycle as the Grand Theft Auto 4 base game, and take place within the same Liberty City sandbox. While originally released as dedicated DLC, both titles were ultimately released standalone under the Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City package.

Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars

Release date: March 17, 2009
Platform(s): PSP, Nintendo DS, iOS, Android

Set in 2009, Chinatown Wars was another entry that took place in Liberty City. Released on the Nintendo DS and PSP, the off-shot adventure followed the story of Huang Lee, a member of the Triad who gets attacked when he sets out to deliver a sword to his uncle. Now determined to reclaim the ancestral weapon from those who stole it from him, Lee gets caught up between the rivalries and growing tensions of the triads in the city.

Grand Theft Auto 5

Release date: September 17, 2013
Platform(s): PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC

GTA 5 took the series to new heights in the sprawling world of Los Santos. Set in the year 2013 when it was originally released, GTA 5 not only opened up the world to us in a bigger and more immersive way, it also allowed us to experience it from shifting perspectives, with three player protagonists in Franklin, Michael, and Trevor. Each character has a distinctly different lifestyle and place in Rockstar's take on what is essentially LA. It's a veritable playground of action, with the freedom to spend your time doing whatever you want outside of the core story missions.

GTA Online

Release date: October 1, 2013
Platform(s): PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC

The ever-evolving GTA Online really is its own beast and has become massive over the past decade, with a huge player community, many updates, and a wealth of freedom to play around in the open-world setting of San Andreas. Where it sits in the timeline in terms of story-related content would put it very close to its Los Santos and Blaine County-set counterpart, GTA 5. 

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