Last week, we surveyed our staff and arrived at a ranking of the 3-D GTAs, beginning with GTA III and ending (thus far) with GTA Online (which Rockstar considers a separate entity, and which will soon be sold on its own). But while we wait, we can cast our minds back to the best (and “worst”) of the games that set the stage for the series’ inevitable next act.Īfter ‘Grand Theft Auto III,’ Open-World Games Were Never (and Always) the Same How Does ‘Grand Theft Auto III’ Hold Up in 2021? How ‘Grand Theft Auto III’ Became Ground Zero for a Moral Panic The company’s culture is supposedly healthier now, which (along with the perpetual profitability of GTA V and GTA Online) means GTA VI is still seemingly a long way away. That rapid pace was rewarding for fans but grueling for Rockstar’s developers, who crunched relentlessly. Do some division, and you’ll realize that the early 3-D GTA games must have come out fast and furious for a while.Īt first, Rockstar really expedited sequels to its breakthrough release: It took only nine months for Rockstar North to develop Vice City, and San Andreas debuted just three years after GTA III. The consistent quality of the titles is admirable, but their quantity is incredible, considering it’s been more than eight years since the release of the franchise’s most recent installments, GTA V and GTA Online.

ĭepending on one’s definitions, there have been 10 3-D games in the past 20 years of Grand Theft Auto history, dating back to the seminal GTA III. Twenty years later, we’re taking a look at its legacy while we wait for the upcoming GTA trilogy remaster, prepare to purchase yet another version of GTA V, and read rumors about the still-unannounced GTA VI. GTA III became a best-selling sensation that defined the open-world genre, spawning several sequels, inspiring countless imitators, and causing a cultural uproar. On October 22, 2001, Rockstar Games released Grand Theft Auto III, a game that transported the publisher’s trademark criminal mayhem to the unimaginably immersive 3-D Liberty City.

Gta 3 or vice city