Grand Theft Auto became one of the most popular gaming franchises from the first GTA in 1997 to GTA 5 in 2023. But how did that become possible? And which game did Rockstar copy to develop GTA? We will discuss the evolution of GTA in the following article and learn about the history of Rockstar games from GTA 1 to GTA 6
In 1984, four friends named Russel Kay, Mike Dailly, David Jones, and Steve Hammond started the DMA Designs company. They partnered with Psygnosis company and developed many small games, gaining popularity worldwide.
1991 was the turning point for DMA Designs as they launched a puzzle game named “Lemmings” which got admirable recognition as it sold 15 million copies.
DMA Designs is the same company which is known as Rockstar these days. After the successful launch of Lemmings, DMA Designs signed a deal with Nintendo and developed many games until 1995. In 1995, the GTA franchise started which gained remarkable public recognition and is still making huge revenue.
Grand Theft Auto
The first game from the GTA series was released in 1997. It took 2 years to develop and its name was “Race n Chase” which became Grand Theft Auto on its release. Ist GTA was a game that offered a top-down view and it involved three cities which are Liberty City, San Andreas, and Vice City.
You can play as a criminal or a police officer to do amazing challenging missions. The game had many bugs as it was the 1st game of the GTA series but still sold 3 million copies.
Grand Theft Auto: London 1069
GTA London 1969 was released in 1999 and was the first ever game of the GTA series based in a country other than the USA. This game was based in the cities of London and it was just the expanded version of GTA 1. You can play as a criminal and make points by doing easy to complex missions.
Grand Theft Auto 2
GTA 2 was released in 1999 for PC, PlayStation, and consoles. Its graphics had many improvements to GTA 1. In this series of GTA side missions were added not just linear missions.
You can play the game as a taxi driver and participate in the races. The game’s graphics were not liked so much by the user so it could sell 2 million copies.
GTA 2 was not based in the real city rather it was developed in an open-world city named Anywhere City.
Grand Theft Auto 3
GTA 3 was released in 2001 and was the first game of the GTA series that involved 3rd person gameplay. The protagonist “Claude” can roam in Liberty City and become the master of crimes in the underworld of Liberty City.
Grand Theft Auto proved itself to be a game-changer for RockStar games as this game sold 14.5 million copies and gained exceptional popularity due to its amazing gameplay.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
GTA Vice City was released in 2002 and was exclusively for PlayStation but after a year, the game was also released for PC and Xbox. The game is based in the Vice City and has fantastic graphics.
There you can drive many vehicles including bikes, cars, boats, and many others. You can walk on foot and explore the city. GTA Vice City has admirably explained graphics and it involves a lot of unique islands that are exciting to explore.
The game got so much love from people around the globe and it sold 17.5 million copies and became one of the most popular games from the GTA series.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
GTA San Andreas was released in 2004 and got remarkable public admiration. At first, the game was released just for Play Station but after some time it was released for PC and Xbox. this game was considered the best of the GTA series.
GTA San Andreas has fantastic gameplay as you can roam in the open-world cities. This version has the ability to make the player swim and climb the wall. It has a lot more vehicles than the old GTA versions.
You can unlock new game features by passing missions and challenges. You can also cause violence in the city and become a wanted person by the police.
The game had many more unique features than the previous version that’s why it sold more than 25.7 million copies.
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
Liberty City Stories is similar to GTA 3 but with improved graphics. It was exclusively developed for PlayStation but later released for mobile devices and Xbox. The game is not available for PC till now.
You can drive a bike in this version which was not available in GTA 3. The game is based on the original Liberty City and has fewer features than San Andreas and Vice City.
The player does not have the ability to swim or climb the wall but other game features are a lot more exciting and encourage the player to keep playing the game.
Liberty City Stories also remained popular and sold 11 million copies worldwide.
Grand Theft Auto 4
GTA 4 was released in 2004 it is a unique and important game of the GTA franchise as it is the first game of the GTA series HD universe. All other versions involve a 3D universe but GTA 4 is based on the universe.
It is the first game in which the company has used Rockstar Advance Game Engine (RAGE). GTA 4 is also based in Liberty City but its map is not that big so there is no airplane feature. The player has the ability to take part in multiple missions at a time.
GTA 4 was a high success and sold more than 25 million copies. GTA 4 has a record as the fastest-selling entertainment product as it made $ 310 million on the very first day and $500 million in the first week after its release.
Grand Theft Auto 5
GTA 5 was released in 2013 and became an instant success just after its release. GTA 5 has the best graphics and its missions are realistic and entertaining. It has the biggest map and is considered one of the biggest open-world games GTA 5 is considered an addictive game and the game lovers are setting a separate computer just to play this amazing game.
It is the first game of the GTA series that involves three characters and the player can switch among them. All of them have their separate missions to pass through. This feature makes the game unique from the other versions.
GTA 5 gained outstanding success that it made a revenue of $815 million just on its 1st day and $1 billion in the first week. Isn’t that incredible? It has sold more than 185 million copies as of 2023.
Grand Theft Auto 6
GTA 6 is under development so it is not released yet. But in September 2022 more than 90 footage from GTA 6 were leaked. This was no less than a nightmare for RockStar games. These footages gives a lot of information about the upcoming GTA 6 game such as there will be two characters in the game and the game will be based in Vice City.
Conclusion
The following article covered a lot of information about the history of Rockstar games from GTA 1 to GTA 6 series and how they developed their games with time. GTA series got worldwide recognition and I think there is no one from the young generation who has not played one of the games from the GTA series. Kindly mention your favorite game from the GTA series so the readers can get a bird’s eye view of the game from your review.
FAQs
There are sixteen GTA series including the main games and the expanded version of them. They have improved graphics over time and gained a lot of popularity.
GTA V is considered one of the biggest open-world games with exciting and impressive gameplay. The game has a map area of 127 square kilometers and is the best hot-selling entertainment product that made $815 million in revenue in just one day.
GTA 5 is one of the best-selling video game ever as it has sold $185 million copies as of 2023 and has made $1 billion revenue in just one week after its release.