There aren’t many open-world video game franchises that have managed to reach the controversial popularity of the Grand Theft Auto series. Rockstar Games has put decades of hard work into building a series so recognizable that it’s tough to not wonder how the culture and community of gamers have shifted over the years thanks to the impact of GTA titles.
What started as a simple cop-and-crook idea of chasing violent criminals across town turned into a multi-million dollar idea that, to this day, is able to break multiple records and push the limit of what video games can be. Rockstar’s silent yet strategic marketing has a lot to do with this too, and the nature of it has shifted through the decades.
Here’s a look at the evolution of Grand Theft Auto through the years and how every other GTA contributed to an idea that wasn’t entertained by developers before. Furthermore, Rockstar Games managed to cradle an ambition so vast that creators would outdo themselves with each new open world that came to life.
The Race’n’Chase of Doing Something New
We won’t blame you if you’ve assumed Grand Theft Auto was the original idea that started it all. However, that’s far from the truth. Back in a timeline that eventually led to the release of the first GTA, there was a concept DMA Design was cooking up: a game where you play as cops and hunt down criminals. This title was called Race’n’Chase and was quickly abandoned when developers realized how boring the gameplay loop really got.
There was a twist, though; there was a glitch in the game that developers found pretty hilarious. Apparently, the cops’ AI would go psychotic and start ramming players, which would cause infinite crashing. This gave birth to a new idea. What if a game could harness the very psychotic nature of people living within? and thus, GTA came to be.
GTA 1 and 2 (also, London) were some of the earliest works in the GTA saga that tried to make the best of a top-down view of an open-world map where players could test their boundaries of psychotic behavior. Interestingly enough, the developers were also trying out new soundtracks and radio stations for the game, and one of these in-game experiences included locating certain points on the map that provided specific genres and songs.
Despite all the innovation, this was just the beginning for developers.
GTA 3 Starts an Era of 3D Visuals and Controversies
With the release of GTA 3 in 2001, it was safe to assume that Rockstar’s take on open-world games was strong enough to cradle its own genre. Players were extremely welcoming to the idea that they could now explore a fully developed city in a 3D universe that would give them access to vehicles, quests, cutscenes, and so on. However, this new path started bringing in its fair share of controversies.
The government wasn’t too happy with the game. Parents weren’t happy. Kids? Oh, they were having a blast. According to a report from the FTC in 2001, a study concluded that around 78% of consumers between the ages of 13 and 16 were able to purchase a copy of GTA 3. Obviously, this led to a lot of wrongful exposure for children who would try to mimic antisocial behavior in real life.
Keeping aside all the backlash Rockstar Games was receiving, this was still working in favor of sales. Free marketing, anyone? In a way, GTA 3 was able to voice psychopathy without a voice. The mute protagonist’s actions were harsh enough to give the world an idea of where the series was heading. And, with the entry of GTA: Vice City and San Andreas, Rockstar was finally testing the limits of it all.
San Andreas was a particularly important one during this timeline. Being the highest-sold game on the PlayStation 2, this title had an amount of content that players were usually not accustomed to. Mini-games, driving lessons, dating, a huge map to explore – the list would go on.
Between these larger titles, entries into the series like Vice City Stories and Liberty City Stories were there to test the potential of handheld consoles but weren’t attracting the kind of sales Rockstar was aiming for. In fact, Chinatown Wars fell victim to this, despite all the interesting shifts in perspectives and game mechanics in that era of gaming.
GTA 4 Introduces Morality, Mechanics, and More Visual Depth
One of the most important games to set the tone for upcoming GTA titles was none other than GTA IV, a darker, grittier, and more detailed take on the criminal underworld. This was the beginning of the HD era for GTA games, where visuals took the game to another level of detail, despite the map being a smaller one. Furthermore, players’ choices felt like they had some weight, thanks to a system where they could decide the fate of enemies.
This was the time when it was clear that fans were a bit too eager for everything going on in the world of GTA, and Rockstar Games’ marketing was starting to do the job by itself. Still, there were a few tricks up Rockstar’s sleeve when it came to promoting the game. For instance, at one point, Rockstar asked players to send in recordings of them ranting over a topic. Later on, some of these rants and recordings were put into the game and could be heard over the WKTT radio channel.
With the success of GTA, two other titles took their share of the cake: The Ballad of Gay Tony and The Lost and Damned. These standalone DLCs shared the same universe but told drastically different stories. Unfortunately, this was perhaps the last time players got a chance to experience a strong single-player DLC for a GTA title since the next one in the series gave rise to a new direction for Rockstar Games.
GTA 5 Introduces a Live Service Model and Jumpstarts the Hype for GTA 6
Another entry into the HD universe, GTA 5 quickly rose to the top as one of the most anticipated and best-selling entertainment products of all time. At its core, the game combined everything Rockstar Games had mastered over the years. Three strong character arcs, a beautiful and detailed open world, newly introduced game mechanics, and the promise of an ongoing live service model.
While the single-player experience was done and dusted after the credits rolled on, GTA Online’s massive landscape challenged players to build an empire of their own and pull off the highest forms of criminal undertakings with a bunch of friends. In the midst of all the flying bikes and server problems, players were more hyped about Rockstar’s next big undertaking, GTA 6.
The marketing for GTA 6 has been almost non-existent so far, but within the first two weeks of the game’s first trailer, viewership has crossed the 150 million mark and broken a bunch of Guinness World Records. In a sneaky way, Rockstar teased the game through multiple online updates and a special letter to the community that confirmed the game’s much-awaited trailer.
We’ll have to wait and watch as Rockstar further builds the hype around GTA 6, and we wish for the possibility that maybe the community will get to interact with some of it. Talk shows, actors, podcasts, and more. Who knows, really? There’s just so much to look forward to.
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