GTA V

Grand Theft Auto V is an open-world crime game developed by Rockstar North. It came out on PS3 and Xbox 360 on 17 September 2013, after missing its original spring 2013 window. It is the seventh main entry in the series and the fifteenth overall.

Three criminals and a story built on heists

Rockstar describes the game as following three very different criminals, Franklin, Michael and Trevor, risking everything in a series of daring heists in sun-soaked Los Santos. Michael De Santa (Ned Luke) is a retired bank robber, Franklin Clinton (Shawn Fonteno) a street hustler and Trevor Philips (Steven Ogg) a drug dealer and gunrunner.

A prologue set in 2004 shows a failed robbery in North Yankton. The main story picks up nine years later, in 2013.

Southern California, with Los Angeles as Los Santos

The game takes place in San Andreas, which is based on Southern California. It has two parts: the city of Los Santos, modelled on Los Angeles, and the countryside of Blaine County. The map is much larger than in earlier entries and can be explored freely after the prologue. To design Los Santos, the team made research trips across Southern California and studied census data and documentaries about Los Angeles.

Switch between three characters, mid-mission or not

Players control three characters and can switch between them, both during missions and outside them. The story is built around heist sequences, and many missions mix shooting and driving.

A thousand people, a $265 million budget and a rebuilt RAGE

Work began around the time GTA IV came out in 2008 and involved more than 1,000 people across Rockstar's studios. Analysts estimated the development and marketing budget at more than US$265 million, among the highest for any game.

The game runs on an overhauled RAGE engine, with Euphoria and Bullet handling animation and physics. Rockstar announced it on 25 October 2011 and released the first trailer a week later.

An original score and 241 licensed tracks

The original score comes from Tangerine Dream, Woody Jackson, The Alchemist and Oh No. On top of that, more than 241 licensed tracks are spread across fifteen music stations and two talk stations.

GTA Online arrived two weeks later and kept growing

Grand Theft Auto Online launched on 1 October 2013, two weeks after the main game, for up to 30 players. It has grown through years of free updates, among them the Heists in 2015.

From PS3 to PS5, with a PC port in between

The PS4 and Xbox One versions followed on 18 November 2014. Rockstar listed longer draw distances, denser traffic, new wildlife and over 100 new songs across 17 radio stations. This release also added a first-person mode, which required an overhaul of the animation system.

The PC version arrived on 14 April 2015 with support for 4K and 60 frames per second, and GTA Online for 30 players. An Expanded and Enhanced version came to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on 15 March 2022. PC received those enhancements in a free update on 4 March 2025.

A 97 Metascore, a billion dollars in three days

Metacritic lists a Metascore of 97, the highest of any game released in 2013. Critics called it one of the best games of the seventh console generation, and Polygon called it the benchmark for the next one. Edge, Time and the Spike VGX 2013 named it Game of the Year, and Rockstar received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship at the 10th British Academy Games Awards.

It took US$815 million in its first 24 hours and passed US$1 billion in three days, which at the time made it the fastest-selling entertainment product in history. It broke seven Guinness World Records, including best-selling video game in 24 hours. Today it is the second-best-selling video game of all time, with over 230 million copies shipped and more than US$10 billion in revenue.

The torture mission and the portrayal of women drew fire

The torture mission "By the Book" was criticised by reviewers and politicians. Some reviewers also called the game's portrayal of women misogynistic.