The short answer: there is no single chronological Grand Theft Auto canon. Rockstar’s games are split into three separate continuities—the 2D, 3D and HD universes. Within those universes, the practical story routes are:
- 2D universe: Grand Theft Auto, London 1961, London 1969, then Grand Theft Auto 2 (the fictional dating is not settled enough for a precise timeline).
- 3D universe: Vice City Stories → Vice City → San Andreas → Liberty City Stories → Advance (optional) → Grand Theft Auto III.
- HD universe: Grand Theft Auto IV → The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony (both overlap GTA IV) → Chinatown Wars → Grand Theft Auto V, with Grand Theft Auto Online developing during the GTA V era.
Grand Theft Auto VI is officially dated for November 19, 2026, but its complete place in the released story chronology is not yet established.
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Why GTA has three timelines instead of one
“Story order” means the year in which a game’s events occur inside its fiction, not the year the game was released. That distinction matters because the series repeatedly reuses names such as Liberty City, Vice City and Los Santos without making every appearance part of one continuous history.
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- 2D universe: the top-down original games and their London expansions.
- 3D universe: the 2000s-era stories beginning with Vice City Stories and ending with Grand Theft Auto III.
- HD universe: the high-definition continuity beginning with Grand Theft Auto IV and continuing through Grand Theft Auto V and its online era.
A character, city or organization appearing in two universes does not make those appearances one biography. Treat each block below as its own canon.
#1 Best Overall
- Grand Theft Auto III: It all starts in Liberty City. With the revolutionary freedom to go anywhere and jack anyone, Grand Theft Auto III puts the center of the criminal underworld at your fingertips, if you have enough guts to take it.
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City: Welcome to the 1980s. From the decade of big hair and pastel suits comes the story of one man's rise to the top of the criminal pile.
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: Five years ago, Carl 'CJ' Johnson escaped the haze of Los Santos, San Andreas...a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs, and corruption.
2D universe: the early games
The 2D entries are best treated as a separate historical block rather than forced into a year-by-year chronology. Sources disagree about the exact fictional placement of the original Grand Theft Auto and Grand Theft Auto 2, while the London expansions carry explicit years in their titles. The following is the commonly used sequence for experiencing the 2D catalog, with those uncertainties made clear.
| Sequence | Game | Setting or date | Role | Continuity note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Theft Auto | Fictional date varies by source; released 1997 | Main 2D title | Start of the original top-down continuity |
| 2 | Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 | 1961 | Expansion | London setting; separate from the later 3D London references |
| 3 | Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 | 1969 | Expansion | London setting; an early-era side story |
| 4 | Grand Theft Auto 2 | Exact fictional placement disputed; released 1999 | Main 2D title | Do not assign it a falsely precise year |
If your goal is historical context, play these in the sequence above. If your goal is a clean, date-ordered narrative, the 2D material cannot provide one with the same confidence as the 3D and HD universes. The London titles’ years are clear; the surrounding placement of the numbered games is not.
3D universe: strict fictional story order
The 3D continuity has the clearest complete chronology. It moves from 1984 to 2001 and follows different protagonists in Vice City, the state of San Andreas and Liberty City.
Rank #2
- Grand Theft Auto III: It all starts in Liberty City
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City: Welcome to the 1980s
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: Five years ago, Carl 'CJ' Johnson escaped the haze of Los Santos, San Andreas...a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs, and corruption.
| Order | Fictional year | Game | Location | Protagonist and premise | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1984 | Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories | Vice City | Victor “Vic” Vance’s rise and the events that lead toward Vice City | Prequel/main story |
| 2 | 1986 | Grand Theft Auto: Vice City | Vice City | Tommy Vercetti builds power in the cocaine and casino underworld | Mainline title |
| 3 | 1992 | Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas | The state of San Andreas | Carl “CJ” Johnson returns to Los Santos after his mother’s death | Mainline title |
| 4 | 1998 | Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories | Liberty City | Toni Cipriani returns to Leone-family crime | Prequel/side story |
| 5 | 2000 | Grand Theft Auto Advance | Liberty City | A handheld story that leads into Grand Theft Auto III | Optional handheld side story |
| 6 | 2001 | Grand Theft Auto III | Liberty City | Claude survives betrayal and climbs the criminal hierarchy | Mainline title |
How to use this order
Playing the table from top to bottom gives you the events in fictional sequence. Advance is optional: it occupies a useful 2000 slot, but it is a handheld side story rather than a required chapter of the central console arc.
The most accessible route for many players is instead Grand Theft Auto III → Vice City → San Andreas. That is a release-era introduction, not the strict chronological route. It starts with the game that established the modern 3D formula, then moves through two larger prequel-era stories. Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition packages those three games together, and the collection also received physical console releases. Check the edition and availability for your platform and region before buying, because those details can change.
HD universe: Liberty City to Los Santos
The HD timeline starts in 2008 and extends into the 2013 setting of Grand Theft Auto V. Its first three stories are not a simple one-after-another trilogy: the two GTA IV episodes take place during overlapping events.
Rank #3
- Grand Theft Auto III: It all starts in Liberty City
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City: Welcome to the 1980s
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: Five years ago, Carl 'CJ' Johnson escaped the haze of Los Santos, San Andreas...a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs, and corruption.
| Order | Fictional year | Game | Location | Protagonist and premise | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2008 | Grand Theft Auto IV | Liberty City | Niko Bellic arrives from Eastern Europe and becomes involved in the city’s criminal networks | Mainline title |
| 2 | 2008, overlapping GTA IV | The Lost and Damned | Liberty City | Johnny Klebitz and The Lost Motorcycle Club | Story expansion |
| 3 | 2008, overlapping GTA IV | The Ballad of Gay Tony | Liberty City | Luis Lopez works for nightclub impresario Tony Prince | Story expansion |
| 4 | 2009 | Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars | Liberty City | Huang Lee pursues revenge | Handheld side story |
| 5 | 2013 | Grand Theft Auto V | Los Santos and Blaine County | Michael, Franklin and Trevor’s intersecting criminal careers | Mainline title |
| 6 | GTA V era and later updates | Grand Theft Auto Online | Los Santos and surrounding areas | An evolving player-created criminal career and update-driven stories | Online narrative |
Where the two GTA IV episodes fit
The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony are parallel viewpoints on the same 2008 period. You can complete GTA IV first, then play both episodes in either order. That approach is easiest for understanding Niko’s campaign, Johnny’s club conflict and Luis’s nightlife business without repeatedly jumping between save files.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsPlayers who want the fullest overlap can switch between the base game and episodes around their shared 2008 events, but there is no single mission-by-mission sequence required by the official chronology. The important point is that both expansions belong beside GTA IV, not after it as years-later sequels.
How GTA Online should be placed
Grand Theft Auto Online begins in the GTA V era and has continued through later update stories. It is therefore better understood as an evolving online narrative than as one finished campaign with a fixed endpoint. Place it after—or alongside—the GTA V period when making a timeline, rather than assigning every update to one definitive date.
Rank #4
Grand Theft Auto VI: the next continuity entry
Grand Theft Auto VI is officially listed for November 19, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Rockstar describes Jason and Lucia in Vice City and the wider state of Leonida. Because the full released story is not yet available, its exact chronological relationship to the earlier HD games cannot be established beyond that setting and release information.
Do not insert GTA VI between the 1980s Vice City games simply because it returns to the same city. The 1986 game belongs to the 3D universe; the new Vice City and Leonida belong to the later HD-era continuity.
Which order should you actually play?
For a first-time player
- Start with Grand Theft Auto III if you want the foundational 3D experience and the simplest entry point.
- Continue with Vice City, then San Andreas to follow the most approachable release-era progression.
- Move to Grand Theft Auto IV, followed by its two overlapping episodes.
- Play Chinatown Wars if you want the Liberty City timeline filled out before Grand Theft Auto V.
- Finish with Grand Theft Auto V; treat Grand Theft Auto Online as an ongoing optional extension.
This route avoids beginning with handheld prequels while still covering the major console stories in an order that introduces the series’ mechanics naturally.
Best Value
- Grand Theft Auto III: It all starts in Liberty City. With the revolutionary freedom to go anywhere and jack anyone, Grand Theft Auto III puts the center of the criminal underworld at your fingertips, if you have enough guts to take it.
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City: Welcome to the 1980s. From the decade of big hair and pastel suits comes the story of one man's rise to the top of the criminal pile. Grand Theft Auto returns with Tommy Vercetti’s tale of betrayal and revenge in a neon-soaked tropical town full of excess and brimming with possibilities.
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: Five years ago, Carl ‘CJ’ Johnson escaped the haze of Los Santos, San Andreas...a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs, and corruption. Now, it's the early 90s. CJ’s got to go home - his mother has been murdered, his family has fallen apart, and his childhood friends are all heading towards disaster.
For strict 3D chronology
- Vice City Stories (1984)
- Vice City (1986)
- San Andreas (1992)
- Liberty City Stories (1998)
- Advance (2000, optional)
- Grand Theft Auto III (2001)
Choose this route when the fictional calendar matters more to you than release accessibility. The prequel games may feel more meaningful after you already know the series’ later 3D design, but the order itself is internally consistent.
For a complete franchise survey
- Play the 2D block as an early-history set, without claiming disputed years for the numbered games.
- Complete the six-entry 3D sequence, including Advance only if handheld side stories matter to you.
- Play the HD sequence: GTA IV, both episodes, Chinatown Wars, then GTA V.
- Add GTA Online as an evolving post-GTA V experience rather than a final chapter.
- Play GTA VI after release if you want the newest Vice City and Leonida story.
Story order versus release order
Release order answers a different question: how the series’ mechanics, graphics and storytelling developed for players at the time. Story order answers when each plot occurs. Neither is universally superior.
| If you care most about… | Use this approach | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Fictional chronology | Follow each universe’s table from top to bottom | Events progress by their in-world years |
| Ease of entry | GTA III → Vice City → San Andreas | It follows the familiar 3D release-era introduction and is bundled in one trilogy collection |
| Modern presentation | Begin with GTA IV or GTA V, then explore earlier continuities | The HD games use the later technology and tone, while remaining a separate canon |
| Every side story | Include Liberty City Stories, Advance, Chinatown Wars and both GTA IV episodes | You see the handheld and expansion viewpoints omitted from a mainline-only route |
The key mistake is mixing these approaches without labeling them. Calling Vice City Stories a sequel to GTA V, or treating Claude, Niko, CJ and Tommy as participants in one uninterrupted history, creates a timeline the games do not support.
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Quick reference: every game by continuity
| Continuity | Chronological span | Core locations | Mainline entries | Side stories and expansions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2D | Unsettled; London titles are 1961 and 1969 | Original cities and London | Grand Theft Auto, Grand Theft Auto 2 | London 1961, London 1969 |
| 3D | 1984–2001 | Vice City, San Andreas, Liberty City | Vice City, San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto III | Vice City Stories, Liberty City Stories, Advance |
| HD | 2008 onward through the GTA V era | Liberty City, Los Santos, Blaine County | Grand Theft Auto IV, Grand Theft Auto V | The Lost and Damned, The Ballad of Gay Tony, Chinatown Wars, Grand Theft Auto Online |
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