Game · in order
Every GTA Game in Order
Nineteen GTA games and two Rockstar short films, in release order across three separate continuities that never touch: the 2D universe, the 3D universe, and the HD universe. Release order is the default, and story chronology only differs meaningfully inside the 3D games, where four of the six entries are prequels.
Every GTA Game in Order: complete list
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Why this order?
There is no single Grand Theft Auto timeline to get in order, because there are three of them. The 2D universe, the 3D universe and the HD universe are hard reboots that share nothing but city names, brand jokes and the odd radio DJ. Liberty City in 2001 and Liberty City in 2008 are different cities in different worlds, built by different teams from different reference photos. So the real question a new player is asking is not "which game comes next" but "which continuity am I in, and inside it do I follow release order or story order". Release order is the default here because it is the only sequence that shows you the series changing, and because two of the three continuities barely differ between the two views.
The 2D universe is the small one: the 1997 original, the two London expansions and Grand Theft Auto 2. Story order flips the London games to the front, since 1961 and 1969 are literally the earliest events in the whole franchise, but there is a practical catch that outranks any timeline argument. London 1969 needs the original game installed, and London 1961 needs London 1969 installed, so the earliest story in Grand Theft Auto cannot be your first purchase. Play them in release order and the dependency chain solves itself.
The 3D universe is where the split is real and worth taking seriously. Release order runs III (2001), Vice City (1986), San Andreas (1992), Advance (2000), Liberty City Stories (1998) and Vice City Stories (1984), which means the story marches steadily backwards for five years of releases. Chronological order reverses that into Vice City Stories, Vice City, San Andreas, Liberty City Stories, Advance and III. Both are defensible. Release order preserves the reveals, because the prequels are written assuming you already know who these people become, and it saves the technically roughest game for a point where you are invested. Chronological order rewards you differently: you watch Liberty City decay into the version III drops you into, with buildings still standing that III has demolished.
The HD universe collapses the question almost entirely. Grand Theft Auto IV, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony are not sequels to each other, they are three viewpoints on the same few weeks of 2008 and the same diamond deal, so they read best in release order as one long triptych. Chinatown Wars is set in 2009 and is chronologically last of the IV era despite shipping between the two episodes. Then V, Online and VI, in that order, either way you sort them.
Two entries are packaging rather than story, and this list treats them that way. Episodes from Liberty City is the retail bundle of the two IV expansions and exists so you can play them without owning IV, which is why "finish IV first" is advice about story, not access. The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition is a 2021 remaster of III, Vice City and San Andreas, so it has no chronological slot of its own and sits at the end of the story order. It matters anyway, because for years it has been the only way to buy those three games digitally.
Timeline 1997-2026
Every entry by release year: rows that share a year are a cluster, and the long droughts are called out on the rail.
- 1997 Grand Theft Auto
- 1999 London 1969London 196122: The Movie
- 2001 III
- 2002 Vice City
- 2004 San AndreasAdvance
- 2005 San Andreas - The IntroductionLiberty City Stories
- 2006 Vice City Stories
- 2008 IV
- 2009 IV: The Lost and DamnedChinatown WarsThe Ballad of Gay TonyEpisodes from Liberty City
- 4-year gap
- 2013 VOnline
- 8-year gap
- 2021 The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition
- 5-year gap
- 2026 VI
Where to play it today
- Availability rotates by region and storefront, so check the PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, Steam and the Rockstar Games launcher before buying
- GTA V and GTA Online are the easiest to get: both sell standalone on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, and GTA V has appeared in Xbox Game Pass and as an Epic giveaway in the past
- III, Vice City and San Andreas sell only as The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition, which cannot be split up. It is on console, PC, Switch and mobile
- GTA IV sells as the Complete Edition, which includes both episodes. Episodes from Liberty City also still turns up separately on some stores
- Liberty City Stories and Chinatown Wars have mobile versions on iOS and Android, though storefront listings come and go
- Vice City Stories and Grand Theft Auto Advance have never been re-released beyond their original hardware, so original discs or cartridges are the only legitimate route
- The 1997 original, the two London expansions and GTA 2 were given away free by Rockstar for years, but the official download pages have since gone, so treat them as archive material
Availability changes often and varies by region - links search each platform for Grand Theft Auto.
Frequently asked questions
How many GTA games are there in total?
Twenty-one entries are listed here: nineteen games and two Rockstar short films. The games are Grand Theft Auto, London 1969, London 1961, GTA 2, GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas, Advance, Liberty City Stories, Vice City Stories, GTA IV, The Lost and Damned, Chinatown Wars, The Ballad of Gay Tony, Episodes from Liberty City, GTA V, GTA Online, The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition and GTA VI. The films are Grand Theft Auto 2: The Movie and San Andreas - The Introduction. If you only count numbered mainline titles the answer is six: I, 2, III, IV, V and VI.
What order should I play the GTA games in?
Release order, which is the default on this page: the 1997 original, London 1969, London 1961, GTA 2, III, Vice City, San Andreas, Advance, Liberty City Stories, Vice City Stories, IV, The Lost and Damned, Chinatown Wars, The Ballad of Gay Tony, Episodes from Liberty City, V, Online, the Definitive Edition remaster and then VI. Release order works because the games sit in three separate continuities that never touch, so there is no single timeline to follow, and because the prequels are written for players who already know the later games.
Do the GTA games connect to each other?
Only inside their own continuity, and even then loosely. The 2D universe (1997 through GTA 2), the 3D universe (III through Vice City Stories) and the HD universe (IV onward) are hard reboots. They reuse city names like Liberty City and Vice City, the same brand jokes and some radio personalities, but the characters and events do not carry across. Within a continuity, most games are standalone stories with their own protagonist, so you can skip almost any single entry without getting lost.
Which GTA should I play first?
For most newcomers, GTA V, because it is the most modern, the most polished and the easiest to buy on current hardware. If you want to see where the open-world formula was invented, start at GTA III. If you want the best-loved 3D-universe game, start at San Andreas, which you will get through the Definitive Edition bundle. Do not start with London 1961 or London 1969, even though they are the earliest stories, because both are expansions that require other installs.
What is the chronological order of the 3D universe GTA games?
Vice City Stories (1984), Vice City (1986), the short film San Andreas - The Introduction, San Andreas (1992), Liberty City Stories (1998), Grand Theft Auto Advance (2000) and Grand Theft Auto III (2001). That is close to the reverse of how they were released, because four of the six games are prequels. Chronological order is genuinely worth considering here, and it is the one continuity where the choice actually matters.
Do I need to play GTA IV before The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony?
Not to launch them, but yes for the story. Episodes from Liberty City packages both expansions as a standalone release that runs without GTA IV. All three campaigns cover the same weeks of 2008 and cross at the same diamond deal, so playing IV first and then The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony gives you the reveals in the order they were written. Chinatown Wars is set in 2009 and comes after all three in story terms.
Where does GTA Online fit in the timeline?
It starts a few months before GTA V's 2013 story, which makes it a prequel at launch, and then stops behaving like a fixed point. From the 2017 Gunrunning update onward each new chunk of content is set in its own year of release, so the game has drifted into the real-world present. It launched on 1 October 2013, has sold standalone since March 2022, and is still getting story content: The Kortz Center Heist arrived on 14 July 2026.
Can I still buy GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas separately?
No. The three originals were pulled from digital stores and the only current purchase is Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition, which bundles all three and cannot be split up. It is a remaster with a different engine, different lighting and some altered content, which is why this page lists it as its own step rather than treating it as a reissue. It is available on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC and mobile.
Which GTA games are hardest to play today?
Vice City Stories, which never got a mobile or current-console port and exists only on PSP and PS2, and Grand Theft Auto Advance, which never left the Game Boy Advance. After those come the 2D-universe games: the 1997 original and GTA 2 run on modern PCs through community effort rather than official support, and the two London expansions still need their parent games installed to launch at all.
When is GTA 6 coming out?
19 November 2026 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. It has been delayed twice, first from a 2025 target to 26 May 2026 and then to November 2026. No PC version has been announced, so it is a console-only launch as things stand. It continues the HD universe and is set in the fictional state of Leonida, built around a modern take on Vice City. Rockstar has not stated which in-game year it takes place in.
Last verified · Sources: en.wikipedia.org
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