From the first game in 1997 all the way to Grand Theft Auto V
released in 2013, the Grand Theft Auto franchise continues to rank among the greatest and best-selling games of all time. Let’s go through the entire evolution of this legendary franchise! This is the Evolution of Grand Theft Auto! In 1997, the first Grand Theft Auto game
was released for PC, PlayStation, and two years later also for the Game Boy Color. The first GTA must look archaic to fans of the more modern entries of the series. Its top-down perspective and rough polygonal graphics are
a far cry from the expansive, detailed city spaces we've eventually come to expect. However, the game was still as crime-focused, mature, and violent as we know it today. But that wasn’t how the game started. First, it was titled “Race ‘n’ Chase,” in which players would be a police officer pursuing criminals. However, the game was considered boring. So, the name was changed to Grand Theft Auto and instead of a police officer, players would become a criminal. The game was made up of six levels split between three main cities, which were based on real-life cities in the United States, including Liberty City,
based on New York City; San Andreas
based on San Francisco; and Vice City
which is based on Miami. These cities would continue to come back in the series. In 1999, an expansion pack was released, known as Grand Theft Auto: London 1969. As the name suggests, it took place in London during the late 1960s. This included aesthetic elements from this time period, including vehicles, but also British slang. Both the original GTA and the expansion pack
received mixed reviews. It was praised for its freedom, but the graphics were seen as unimpressive. Nonetheless, the game became a success, and over 3 million copies were sold. Fun Fact Grand Theft Auto created a great deal of controversy due to its violent content. The House of Lords was considering banning sales in the United Kingdom. However, luckily it was never banned, and Rockstar Games cleverly used the controversy as free promotion for their game. In 1999, Grand Theft Auto 2 was released for PC, PlayStation, Dreamcast, and the Game Boy Color. The second game in the franchise was a solid step forward that expanded the groundwork
established by the first game, although it wasn't the genre-redefining step that its successor would become. Its significant evolution was its mission design. Instead of having a linear sequence of missions, you could choose to freely accept missions from different, often opposing gangs at any time. This created a chain of events that
affected how gangs perceived you. Side missions were firstly presented and have since followed every game of the series. You could earn money by working as a taxi, bus, or delivery truck driver. Additionally, the game saw advancements
in pedestrian behavior people would walk on the street or enter public transportation vehicles. If they were criminals, they would steal cars or engage in random fights with the police. Instead of in-game footage, the game featured a live-action short film as an introductory sequence for the game. Yet again, the game was criticized for its graphics and received mixed reviews. In total, 2 million copies of
Grand Theft Auto 2 were sold. In 2001, Rockstar Games
published Grand Theft Auto III. It was released for PC, PlayStation 2, and the Xbox. Although the first two GTA's were both proofs of concept for what an open-world action game could be, GTA III took that idea to the next level. Unlike its predecessors, you were free to walk from a third-person perspective, breathe and live in a 3D city. This simple shift in perspective increased
your engagement with the world. With the open-world structure of
its ancestors once again at play, the ability to freely take on missions or
merely cause chaos was satisfying and innovative gameplay. Storytelling was also greatly emphasized, with celebrity voice acting within dramatic cutscenes. Unfortunately, the protagonist had little personality or backstory. Grand Theft Auto III also generated a lot of controversies. GameSpy awarded the game with They thought it was disgraceful that players were awarded for causing mayhem and killing innocent people by the dozen. Despite its controversies, Grand Theft Auto III became a massive success and was generally very well received. Many reviewers found the 3D graphics
a significant improvement over the 2D graphics in previous games. Official PlayStation Magazine named it quote and IGN said it was On Metacritics, the game
even scored a 97 out of a 100, and became one of the highest-scoring games of all time. In total, a whopping 14.5 million copies
of Grand Theft Auto III were sold. Fun Fact Players could use cheat codes to get an unfair advantage or just to have fun. These included cheats for
being able to fly your car getting all weapons or spawning a tank. Before we continue I would like to thank our sponsor for this video, Atlas VPN! While doing research for all these videos I visit all kinds of sites and often use public Wi-Fi. Meanwhile, someone may be tracking my online activity. So, to stay safe online I use Atlas VPN. In a time where everything is online it is essential to keep your data and IP address safe. With Atlas VPN you can stream your favorite shows and play games with lightning-fast speeds. But that’s not all, it also blocks malicious links, ads, and notifies you when someone is trying to steal your data! Oh, and with one single subscription you can protect unlimited devices on Windows, Mac, IOS and Android. Right now, Atlas VPN is running
a HUGE discount for Black Friday. It means you can get a 3-year subscription for just $1.39 a month with a 30-day money-back guarantee and 3 additional months for free! Time is running out, so get your Black Friday deal by clicking the link in the video description below! In 2002, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It first became a PlayStation 2 exclusive, but it also became available for the PC and the Xbox one year later. The game offered a more detailed city, known as Vice City, which is based heavily on Miami. The game was inspired by Miami Vice and Scarface. "Say hello to my lil' friend!" Vice City includes new missions
and vehicles like motorcycles. One of the game's significant additions was the ability to purchase
businesses and properties, letting you increase your income and feel like
you were actually evolving in the game world. The game's narrative presentation was also upgraded. Finally, we got a protagonist named Tommy Vercetti, who actually talked and felt like a proper character. During the story, Tommy meets
characters from various gangs, and as a player, you can complete
missions for these gangs. Just like Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City was also released to critical acclaim. Players and reviewers loved the open world, sound and music, story, and open-ended gameplay. It only scored slightly less than its predecessor
on Metacritic’s with a score of 95, but it did sell more copies. In total, 17.5 million copies
of Vice City were sold. Fun Fact Similar to its predecessor Vice City also generated a lot of controversies. One of those controversies started when 18-year-old Devin Moore
shot and killed two police officers. In statements to the police, Moore said, “Life is like a video game. Everybody’s got to die sometime.” A 600-million-dollar lawsuit was
filed against Rockstar Games, claiming that Moore frequently played Vice City and that his experience with the game
led him to commit the crimes. Eventually, the Supreme Court dismissed the case. Another 600-million-dollar lawsuit
was filed after 14-year-old Posey killed his father, stepmother, and stepsister. The lawsuit claimed that
the murders would not have taken place if Posey had not obsessively played Vice City. Yet again, the case was dismissed. In 2004 another great
Grand Theft Auto game was released known as San Andreas. At release, only players with a PlayStation 2
could enjoy the game, and in 2005 owners of a PC
or Xbox could also play San Andreas. The game was built on the previous two games while taking players to another
radically different setting. San Andreas was enormous! It became the largest game in the series, consisting of three main cities: Los Santos, based on Los Angeles; San Fierro, based on San Francisco; and Las Venturas, based on Las Vegas. In the large open-world environment, players could use a wide variety of vehicles, including cars, buses, boats, aircraft, motorcycles, tanks, and bicycles. In total, San Andreas has 212 different vehicles compared to just 60 in GTA III. Players could explore and choose
how they wish to play the game, although some locations only became
available after completing missions. An improvement compared to
the previous GTA games was that San Andreas had no loading times while going to different districts in a city. The game also had a multiplayer option to
allow two players to complete Rampages. Players could now also swim, climb walls, modify cars and fight in gang wars. San Andreas's story focused on Carl Johnson, a more dynamic protagonist
than previous characters. The game also introduced a new RPG-style
character progression system that allowed Carl to evolve in different ways. Head to the gym or take part in mini-games and increase your character's stamina and strength. Well, you also had to eat! Devour a delicious meal in Cluckin' Bell and eventually gain colossal weight, impacting gameplay. Overall, the game featured a marked shift toward
focusing on West Coast street gangs and was heavily influenced by 90's hip-hop culture. San Andreas became a legendary game and was met with critical acclaim. It received an average review score of 95. San Andreas also won multiple awards, including “PlayStation 2 Game of the Year” by IGN and “Best PlayStation 2 Game” by GameSpot. It even became the most sold PlayStation 2 game. In total, over 21.5 million copies of
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas were sold! Fun Fact San Andreas was at the center of controversy when they released a software patch dubbed “Hot Coffee.” It involved a fully clothed
sexual intercourse mini-game. "Ah ****, here we go again." The fallout from the controversy even led to high-ranking politicians in the United States to have the game re-released with the mini-game removed completely. It also led to the ESRB changing its rating from M for Mature to AO for Adults Only. Besides the main series, there were also some other GTA titles, including Grand Theft Auto Advance, which was released in 2004
for the Game Boy Advance. The game had to be adapted to the
Game Boy Advance’s hardware limitations. This resulted in a top-down perspective game, which does not have animated cutscenes. Overall the game wasn’t that well-received
compared to the other GTA games. In 2005, Liberty City Stories was released
as a PlayStation Portable exclusive. One year later the game also
became available for the PlayStation 2. Liberty City Stories was the first 3D GTA
game released on a handheld. The game takes place in Liberty City which is a fictional parody of New York City. The PSP version of the game
also had a multiplayer mode, allowing up to six players to
engage in several game modes. Liberty City Stories was generally well-received and had commercial success. In total, 11 million copies
of the game were sold. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories was also released as a
PlayStation Portable exclusive in 2006. One year later, a PlayStation 2
version was also released. Even though Vice City Stories did not introduce
any significant features to the game, it did improve on Liberty City Stories, providing better graphics, faster loading times, a longer draw distance, among other improvements. The game also features “Empire-building,” a gameplay element that allows players
to make money operating various businesses, each with their unique missions. In the game there were also 99 red balloons
scattered around the city, which was a reference to the 1984 hit song “99 Luftballons” by Nena. Just like its predecessor Vice City Stories was also well received, but it wasn’t as successful. In total, 6 million copies were sold, compared to 11 million copies of Liberty City Stories. In 2008, a very important game
in the series was released, named Grand Theft Auto IV. The game could be played on PC, the PlayStation 3, and the Xbox 360. GTA 4 is the sixth main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, following Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. It started the beginning of
what’s known as the “HD universe,” allowing for much better graphics. The game takes place in Liberty City, based, of course, on New York City. During development, the team captured over
100,000 photographs of New York City since they considered the world to be
the most important element of the game. Surprisingly though, the game
isn’t the largest in the series and is just half the size of San Andreas. However, the game adds much more detail. The story features a darker narrative. It introduces Niko Bellic as the protagonist, who is an ex-soldier from Eastern Europe
wanting to pursue the American Dream, and search for the man who betrayed
his unit in a war ten years prior. Developers of GTA thought that the
missions in San Andreas were too linear, so in GTA IV, players could choose between moral
choices that impact the story, such as letting a character live or kill. One of the greatest new features
was online multiplayer. Up to 32 players could engage in cooperative or competitive gameplay. It also allowed players to
join together in free roam modes, which was similar to the single-player game except with friends and others. Grand Theft Auto IV instantly
became a massive success and broke industry records. In the first week, Rockstar Games earned 500 million dollars! In 2009, there were also two
expansion packs released for the Game. The Lost and Damned introduced a storyline
and protagonist named Johnny Klebitz, who is a member of The Lost Motorcycle Club. The DLC also added checkpoints to missions, which allows you to pick up progress after you fail. No starting from the beginning? Pfff, newbies feature. The second DLC was the Ballad of Gay Tony. It also introduces a new story as well as a new protagonist
named Luis Fernando Lopez. Grand Theft Auto and their
DLC’s became a massive success! Most critics and players loved the game
and praised the open world, narrative, and the combat system. IGN even felt that It became the second highest-rated game
on Metacritic with a score of 98. Over 25 million copies of Grand Theft Auto IV were sold, even surpassing the sales of GTA San Andreas. Fun Fact Niko Bellic was based on Sasha, the main character of the movie Behind Enemy Lines. In 2009, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars was released for the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable. It featured the classic top-down
perspective of early GTA games. However, the camera angle was much improved, and it had a more stylized comic-book art style. Besides the story and roaming around in the world, players could also buy drugs from suppliers and sell them to dealers to make money. Although I personally loved dealing drugs in the game, not everyone was a fan of this feature. In fact, it continued the tradition of
controversy in the Grand Theft Auto series. Darren Gold of the charity Drugsline said quote While the game received mostly very positive reviews, it became the worst-selling GTA game, with just 1.2 million copies sold. Fun Fact the police, an everywhere threat to players in GTA, was no longer something to hide from. Instead, the game encouraged you to smash into police cars! This led to a reduction in your wanted level. In 2013, Grand Theft Auto V was released for PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, but also for the next generation PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. Grand Theft Auto V is a significant improvement compared to the previous games in the series. The game can be played from either a third-person or first-person perspective. The story involves not just one protagonist, but three, which are Michael De Santa Franklin Clinton and, of course, Trevor Philips. As a player, you can freely switch
between these characters and complete many engaging missions. GTA V immediately became a huge success; within, just 24 hours of its release, Grand Theft Auto V generated more
than 815 million dollars in revenue! The multiplayer mode, known as GTA Online, is also a significant improvement compared to other installments. Up to 30 players can freely roam online in San Andreas, which includes a city known as Los Santos. There are also countless cooperative
and competitive activities in which players can partake. In 2015, a major update was released for GTA online, known as the Heists Update. It allows players to plan, prepare and execute Heists. The update also introduced many new weapons, vehicles, and clothing items. Over the years Rockstar Games
added many major updates to keep players engaged in multiplayer modes. This is one of the reasons why GTA V continues to be one of the most popular games. Grand Theft Auto V was very well received, becoming one of the highest-rated
games on Metacritic’s website. It received a score of 97. IGN even gave the game a score of 10 out of 10, and called it quote GTA V also won many awards, including “Game of the Year” multiple times, by Spike, Game Developers Choice Awards and D.I.C.E. Awards. The game became a massive success and the fastest video game ever to gross 1 billion dollars. Fun Fact Grand Theft Auto V became the
second best-selling game ever. In total, Rockstar Games managed to sell… wait for it… 150 million copies of the game! If we would combine all the sales of the previous GTA games we wouldn’t even reach that many copies by far. It has been 20 years since the original release of Grand Theft Auto III. In honor of this anniversary Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy
was released in November 2021. The Trilogy was released for PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and the next generation PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. It contains three games from the Grand Theft Auto series, GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas. These games are fully remastered with new lighting, environmental upgrades, high-resolution textures, increased draw distances, and modern gameplay. Finally, it’s time to relive our childhood
with much better graphics. From the first Grand Theft Auto game released in 1997, all the way to Grand Theft Auto V, it is incredible how the series has evolved. The franchise continues to thrive, and millions of fans worldwide are eagerly waiting for GTA VI. Honestly, It’s about time a new
Grand Theft Auto game will be released. What do you hope to see in Grand Theft Auto VI? Let us know in the comments. Thanks for watching, and please subscribe!
