What fans should know about every GTA game in the series and their release date

Speculation of GTA 6's release date often brings up discussions on how gamers used to get a dozen GTA games within a few years.

Those discussions aren't unfounded, either. The GTA series has a long history spanning over two decades while churning out several games every year or two in the past. By comparison, GTA 5 was released in 2013, while the most recent game was the GTA Trilogy in 2021 (and that was a remaster).

Here is a list of every GTA game and their initial release dates. The 2D Universe games consist of:

Grand Theft Auto: 21 October 1997
Grand Theft Auto London 1969: 29 April 1999
Grand Theft Auto London 1961: 1 June 1999
Grand Theft Auto 2: 22 October 1999

The 3D Universe games consist of:

Grand Theft Auto III: 22 October 2001
Grand Theft Auto Vice City: 29 October 2002
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas: 26 October 2004
Grand Theft Auto Advance: 26 October 2004
Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories: 24 October 2005
Grand Theft Auto Vice City Stories: 31 October 2006

The HD Universe games consist of:

Grand Theft Auto IV: 29 April 2008
Grand Theft Auto IV The Lost and Damned: 17 February 2009
Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars: 17 March 2009
Grand Theft Auto IV The Ballad of Gay Tony: 29 October 2009
Grand Theft Auto V: 17 September 2013
Grand Theft Auto Online: 1 October 2013

The remasters consist of:

Grand Theft Auto Trilogy - The Definitive Edition: 11 November 2021

At the time of writing this article (January 2022), there was no information on GTA 6's release date.

Every GTA game and their release date

The art style has evolved through the years (Image via Rockstar Games)

There have been various release dates for the series on different platforms and regions. Every game will be listed below based on their initial chronological release date for these systems.

2D Universe

The first GTA game was released on four systems on these initial release dates:

PC: 21 October 1997
PS1: 14 December 1997
Game Boy Color: 22 October 1999
PlayStation Classic: 3 December 2018

GTA London 1969 came out on 29 April 1999, for the PS1 and PC as a mission pack to the previous game. By comparison, GTA London 1961 launched only on PC on 1 June 1999.

GTA 2 was also on four systems, with the initial release dates being:

PS1: 22 October 1999
PC: 27 October 1999
Dreamcast: 2 May 2000
Game Boy Color: 10 November 2000

3D Universe

GTA 3 and Vice City (Image via Rockstar Games)

GTA III was the start of when the series became mainstream. Unsurprisingly, it's been on numerous platforms since:

PS2: 22 October 2001
PC: 20 May 2002
Xbox: 31 October 2003
PS3: 11 November 2006
Android: 15 December 2011
iOS: 15 December 2011
PS4: 6 December 2015
PS5: 19 November 2020

GTA Vice City also saw similar success, having appeared on numerous platforms:

PS2: 29 October 2002
PC: 12 May 2003
Xbox: 31 October 2003
Android: 6 December 2012
iOS: 6 December 2012
PS3: 29 January 2013
PS4: 6 December 2015
PS5: 19 November 2020

GTA San Andreas (Image via Rockstar Games)

GTA San Andreas would be the last game in the 3D Universe to see as much success as the previous two games. Its release date for the Oculus Quest 2 hasn't been revealed yet, but the old release dates for other platforms are:

PS2: 26 October 2004
PC: 7 June 2005
Xbox: 7 June 2005
Xbox 360: 20 October 2008
Mac OS: 12 November 2010
PS3: 11 December 2012
iOS: 12 December 2013
Android: 19 December 2013
PS4: 6 December 2015
Xbox One: 7 June 2018
Xbox Series X|S: 10 November 2020
PS5: 19 November 2020

GTA Advance, Liberty City Stories, and Vice City Stories (Image via Rockstar Games)

GTA Advance has the least amount of appearances out of any 3D Universe game. It has only appeared on one system, the Game Boy Advance, on 26 October 2004 (same as GTA San Andreas's debut).

GTA Liberty City Stories' release dates were:

PSP: 24 October 2005
PS2: 6 June 2006
PS3: 2 April 2013
iOS: 17 December 2015
Android: 11 February 2016

The final game in the 3D Universe was GTA Vice City Stories. Its initial release dates per platform were:

PSP: 31 October 2006
PS2: 6 March 2007
PS3: 2 April 2013

HD Universe

GTA 4 and The Lost and Damned (Image via Rockstar Games)

GTA IV and its episodes all have varying release dates. The original game came out on:

PS3: 29 April 2008
Xbox 360: 29 April 2008
PC: 2 December 2008
Xbox One: 9 February 2017
Xbox Series X|S: 10 November 2020

The Lost and Damned DLC's initial release dates were:

Xbox 360: 17 February 2009
PS3: 13 April 2010
PC: 13 April 2010

GTA Chinatown Wars and The Ballad of Gay Tony (Image via Rockstar Games)

GTA Chinatown Wars came out before The Ballad of Gay Tony. The former's release dates were:

Nintendo DS: 17 March 2009
PSP: 20 October 2009
iOS: 20 October 2009
Android: 18 December 2014

The final DLC for GTA 4 (The Ballad of Gay Tony) had the following initial release dates:

Xbox 360: 29 October 2009
PS3: 13 April 2010
PC: 13 April 2010

GTA 5 and Online (Image via Rockstar Games)

The main games that most modern GTA fans know are GTA 5 and GTA Online. GTA 5 has been ported to numerous platforms with the following release dates:

PS3: 17 September 2013
Xbox 360: 17 September 2013
PS4: 18 November 2014
Xbox One: 18 November 2014
PC: 14 April 2015
PS5: March 2022
Xbox Series X|S: March 2022

GTA Online has near-identical release dates, with the exception of the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions that happened nearly a month later:

PS3: 1 October 2013
Xbox 360: 1 October 2013
PS4: 18 November 2014
Xbox One: 18 November 2014
PC: 14 April 2015
PS5: March 2022
Xbox Series X|S: March 2022

The GTA Trilogy (Image via Rockstar Games)

The most recent Grand Theft Auto game is the GTA Trilogy - The Definitive Edition, which includes updated remasters of GTA III, Vice City, and San Andreas. Its release dates were: