All GTA games you must play before GTA 6 in chronological order

The Grand Theft Auto (GTA) has quite a few games in the series that players might want to try out before the eventual release of GTA 6. While most of these titles have individual storylines, sometimes Rockstar likes to connect them through characters or certain events. For example, there is a mention of Niko in GTA 5, but someone who hasn't played Grand Theft Auto 4 will not know who he is.

There are several other references to different games in the series that work as great Easter eggs. Apart from this, playing the titles in chronological order allows gamers to understand what Grand Theft Auto is all about and how the games have evolved over the years.

This article lists all the titles in the GTA series in chronological order to help out newbies who are just starting the series or veterans who want to relive the nostalgia.

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All the GTA titles released so far in chronological order (in-game year)

All the Grand Theft Auto titles are set in some timeline based on real-life years, but this does not mean that the games were released in the said year itself. Segregating these titles based on when they take place is a good way to play the games in the actual chronological order.

1. Grand Theft Auto London 1961- 1961
2. Grand Theft Auto London 1969- 1969
3. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories- 1984
4. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City- 1986
5. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition- 1986 /1992 / 2001
6. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas- 1992
7. Grand Theft Auto- 1997
8. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories- 1998
9. Grand Theft Auto 2- 1999
10. Grand Theft Auto Advance- 2000
11. Grand Theft Auto III- 2001
12. Grand Theft Auto IV- 2008
13. Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned- 2008
14. Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony- 2008
15. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars- 2009
16. Grand Theft Auto V- 2013
17. Grand Theft Auto Online- 2013 (till the current year)

As fans can see, there are a total of 17 titles so far, and with the GTA 6 release date still far away, the list will remain as it is for some time.

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List of all the GTA games according to their release date

You may also want to play the games according to their release dates to see how the gameplay and graphics have evolved over the years. Rockstar Games sometimes roll out connected stories in a different order, and this can all get quite confusing. For example, GTA Vice City Stories takes place before Vice City storywise. However, the former was released in 2006, while the latter came out in 2002.

This list will allow players to check out the release dates of all the titles in the Grand Theft Auto series and play them accordingly.

• Grand Theft Auto: November 28, 1997
• Grand Theft Auto London 1969: April 30, 1999
• Grand Theft Auto London 1961: July 1, 1999
• Grand Theft Auto 2: October 22, 1999
• Grand Theft Auto III: October 23, 2001
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City: October 29, 2002
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
• Grand Theft Auto Advance: October 26, 2004
• Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories: October 25, 2005
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories: October 31, 006
• Grand Theft Auto IV: April 29, 2008
• Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned: February 17, 2009
• Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars: March 17, 2009
• Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony: October 29, 2009
• Grand Theft Auto V: September 17, 2013
• Grand Theft Auto Online: October 1, 2013
• Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition: November 11, 2021

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This brings us to the end of the article. Fans of the series are currently waiting to play GTA 6, and there has been a lot of speculation on social media regarding a potential release date and new gameplay elements.