October 24, 2026

Every GTA Ranked by Open-World Impact Worst to Best

Every Grand Theft Auto, ranked by how far it pushed open worlds at launch.

Grand Theft Auto 2's Anywhere City added gang respect, but stayed top-down. Vice City began as a mission pack. Gorgeous, but a refinement, not a leap.

Over 1,000 people built IV's Liberty City: denser, heavier, a smaller leap. V let you swap between three protagonists mid-mission. A genuine structural swing.

David Jones and Mike Dailly's 1997 original set the template everything here follows. San Andreas: a whole state, three cities, under $10 million. Unmatched scale.

About 23 core developers took the series 3D. Open worlds started here.

The criterion: The original drew the map, but III let you stand inside it. A free-roaming 3D city became the blueprint a generation of open worlds borrowed.

The full ranking

1. 7Grand Theft Auto 2
   1999 · PC, PS1, Dreamcast, GBC
2. 6Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
   2002 · PS2, PC, Xbox
3. 5Grand Theft Auto IV
   2008 · PS3, Xbox 360, PC
4. 4Grand Theft Auto V
   2013 · PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One
5. 3Grand Theft Auto
   1997 · PC, PS1
6. 2Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
   2004 · PS2, PC, Xbox
7. 1Grand Theft Auto III
   2001 · PS2, PC, Xbox

Counted down from number 7 to number one.

Games in this story

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Grand Theft Auto III

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Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

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Grand Theft Auto

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Grand Theft Auto V

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Grand Theft Auto IV

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Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

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Grand Theft Auto 2

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PS5

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Xbox Series X

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