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World desk5 min

Games Like Grand Theft Auto to Play While You Wait for Dan Houser’s New Projects

From Sleeping Dogs to Yakuza 0, these games share specific parts of GTA while offering their own take on crime, cities, combat and open-world freedom.
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There is no single game that reproduces Grand Theft Auto’s mix of city exploration, driving, missions, crime stories and chaos. Pick by the part you want most: Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition is a close crime-action fit, Watch Dogs 2 pairs a modern city with hacking, and Mafia: Definitive Edition puts a focused gangster story first. Other choices lean toward role-playing, comedy, detective work or spectacular traversal.

Dan Houser’s announced A Better Paradise game is a separate future project, not a game currently established as available to play. Here are the best fits for different GTA cravings in the meantime.

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Choose the kind of GTA experience you want

“Games like GTA” can mean very different things: a contemporary city and car missions, a crime narrative, free-roaming mayhem, or simply a large place full of things to do. These recommendations share particular elements with GTA; none should be treated as a one-for-one substitute.

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If you want… Try… What differs from GTA
Crime story, driving and physical combat Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition Hong Kong undercover-police action with a stronger martial-arts emphasis.
Modern city, driving and missions with a distinctive mechanic Watch Dogs 2 Hacking is central to its identity.
A tightly focused period gangster story Mafia: Definitive Edition More scripted and less focused on sprawling sandbox play.
A futuristic crime-city RPG Cyberpunk 2077 Science-fiction role-playing comes before contemporary crime simulation.
Comic chaos and a power fantasy Saints Row IV: Re-Elected Its alien-invasion premise and superpowers make it deliberately absurd.
Stunts, traversal and destruction Just Cause 4 Reloaded Traversal and spectacle matter more than a crime premise.
Detective work and interrogation L.A. Noire You investigate crimes rather than play a GTA-style criminal.
Compact districts, brawling and side activities Yakuza 0 Its districts are dense, with a strong focus on brawling, substories and minigames.

Best picks for crime stories, driving and city missions

Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition: the closest crime-action match

Sleeping Dogs follows undercover detective Wei Shen through Hong Kong’s criminal world. Its open-world crime setup, vehicles and street races make it a natural choice if you want a city-based action story; its martial-arts combat gives it a different rhythm from GTA’s emphasis on gunplay. GameSpot describes the story, combat, races and vehicles, while GamesRadar also highlights the martial-arts and stunt-action angle: GameSpot’s games-like-GTA roundup and GamesRadar’s recommendations.

Watch Dogs 2: a modern city with hacking at the center

Choose Watch Dogs 2 if the appeal is driving around a contemporary city, taking on missions and using the environment in a new way. GameGeeker’s 2026 editorial roundup describes its San Francisco setting, driving and real-time hacking. That is an editorial fit description, not confirmation from an official game page: GameGeeker’s open-world crime recommendations.

Mafia: Definitive Edition: a gangster story over freeform mayhem

Mafia: Definitive Edition is a better match for a reader who wants a 1930s gangster narrative than one looking for a huge, chaotic sandbox. GameGeeker characterizes it as a scripted story with less emphasis on sprawling open-world play, so expect a more directed experience than GTA’s free-roaming formula: GameGeeker’s comparison.

Rank #2
Ghost of Tsushima - PlayStation 4
  • Available Now - Ghost of Tsushima: Legends, a new cooperative multiplayer experience inspired by Japanese folk tales and mythology.
  • Beyond war, ancient beauty endures: Uncover the hidden wonders of Tsushima in this open-world action adventure.
  • The rise of the Ghost: Forge a new path and wage an unconventional war for the freedom of Tsushima.

When you want a different kind of open-world freedom

Cyberpunk 2077: crime in a science-fiction RPG city

Cyberpunk 2077 suits players who want a crime-saturated metropolis but are happy to trade contemporary realism for science fiction and role-playing. GameGeeker describes Night City, a mercenary story, choices, gunplay and cybernetic upgrades. Its recommendation is about thematic overlap and city atmosphere, not a claim that the game plays like GTA in every respect: GameGeeker’s overview.

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Saints Row IV: Re-Elected: comedy, powers and city-wide chaos

For a deliberately over-the-top alternative, Saints Row IV: Re-Elected puts a crime boss, an alien invasion and superpowers together. GameGeeker’s roundup presents it as open-city mayhem; take it as a tonal counterpoint to GTA’s more grounded crime stories, not a realistic substitute: GameGeeker’s description.

Rank #3
Mad Max - PlayStation Hits (PS4)
  • Be Mad Max - Become the iconic post-apocalyptic warrior, crafting and upgrading Max's equipment and weapons to survive by combining melee combat, gunplay and tactical techniques. Gamers must form alliances as they work towards the goal of building their "Magnum opus."
  • Immersive savage Wasteland - Explore the gritty, dynamic world while braving the treacherous landscapes, hostile weather patterns and deadly marauders.
  • survive the open-world landscape - Staying alive isn't easy. Players clash with deadly factions and gangs through scores of dangerous side-missions and quests in the dynamic open-world full of exploration.
  • intense vehicular combat - Engage in dynamic inter-vehicular combat, taking down enemy vehicles with a range of powerful weapons. Car combat is entirely physics-based, so no two battles are ever the Same.
  • build the ultimate survival machine - Players design, customize and upgrade their ultimate vehicle-the Magnum Opus-choosing from different car chassis and a slew of upgrades including mounted weapons, armour and engines to survive another day

Just Cause 4 Reloaded: stunts and destruction first

If your favorite part is getting across a huge space in spectacular ways, Just Cause 4 Reloaded emphasizes a grappling hook, parachute, wingsuit, stunts and destruction. Its appeal is traversal and spectacle rather than a GTA-like crime premise, according to GameGeeker’s editorial roundup: GameGeeker’s recommendation.

For detective work or dense, activity-filled districts

L.A. Noire: investigate rather than commit the crimes

L.A. Noire is set in 1947 Los Angeles and centers on investigation and interrogation. It can appeal to someone who wants a crime-world setting and cases to work through, but its police-work perspective is the key difference from GTA. This characterization comes from GameGeeker’s roundup: GameGeeker’s description.

Rank #4
Just Cause 4 - PlayStation 4
  • Day One Edition includes Neon Racer Pack with these DLC items Neon Racer Supercar, Neon Racer Wingsuit, Neon Racer Parachute; see description for full details
  • Bring The Thunder Soar through the skies with your wingsuit Skydive, Base Jump and Free Dive, as you fight your enemies harnessing extreme weather to your advantage
  • Rico’s Ultimate Mission Spearhead the rebellion and defeat a hi tech private military organization; Face off against the most capable adversary yet; Uncover the mystery behind Rico’s Father’s past
  • Huge South American World 100 square kilometers to explore from rainforest to desert, and across snowy mountain peaks as you explore the world of Solis from bustling cities to rural grasslands
  • Creative destruction at its best Customize your new grapple hook with evolved and new capabilities; Experiment with military jets, helicopters, turbo fueled sports cars, and construction vehicles

Yakuza 0: smaller districts with plenty to do

Yakuza 0 trades a vast, free-roaming city for dense districts in Tokyo and Osaka, brawling, substories and minigames. It is worth considering if you want a crime story and a lot of side activities in a compact setting. GamesRadar notes its story and varied side activities; GameGeeker also describes its districts, brawling and minigames: GamesRadar’s roundup and GameGeeker’s overview.

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What is known about Dan Houser’s A Better Paradise game?

Smilegate announced on August 7, 2025, that it would globally publish an AAA open-world science-fiction action-adventure set in A Better Paradise, with development in its early stages. The announcement says Houser would write and creatively direct the game alongside Lazlow and Michael Unsworth. It does not give a release date or establish that the game is available to play. The announcement also described an A Better Paradise novelization as due in October 2025; its current availability is not established here. See Smilegate’s announcement.

Best Value
Sale
Elden Ring - PlayStation 4
  • ELDEN RING is a fantasy action-RPG adventure set within a world created by Hidetaka Miyazaki—creator of the influential DARK SOULS video game series; and George R.R. Martin—author of The New York Times best-selling fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire
  • Danger and discovery lurk around every corner in FromSoftware’s largest game to-date
  • HIDETAKA MIYAZAKI: President and Game Director of FromSoftware Inc. Known for directing critically-acclaimed games in beloved franchises including Armored Core and Dark Souls
  • GEORGE R. R. MARTIN: the #1 The New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including the acclaimed series A Song of Ice and Fire—A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast For Crows, and A Dance with Dragons

That project is separate from Grand Theft Auto VI. Rockstar’s official page describes Jason and Lucia in Vice City and a criminal conspiracy across Leonida. Its news feed included 2026 updates, but that description alone is not a release-date confirmation: Rockstar’s GTA VI page.

How to narrow the list

  • Start with Sleeping Dogs if you want the strongest mix here of crime story, city driving and physical action.
  • Pick Watch Dogs 2 for contemporary-city missions built around hacking, or Mafia: Definitive Edition for a more directed gangster narrative.
  • Choose Cyberpunk 2077 for an RPG city, Saints Row IV for comic-book excess, or Just Cause 4 Reloaded for traversal and destruction.
  • Try L.A. Noire for investigation or Yakuza 0 for brawling and side activities in compact districts.

These recommendations are based on cited descriptions and editorial comparisons, not hands-on testing. Current prices, platform support and regional availability were not verified, so check the store listing for your platform and region before buying.

Quick Recap

Bestseller No. 2
Bestseller No. 3
Bestseller No. 4
SaleBestseller No. 5
Elden Ring - PlayStation 4
Elden Ring - PlayStation 4
Danger and discovery lurk around every corner in FromSoftware’s largest game to-date
$33.15

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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