Grand Theft Auto

Grand Theft Auto is the 1997 open-world action game that began the series later associated with Rockstar Games. DMA Design developed it, and BMG Interactive published the original release for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows in November 1997; a PlayStation version followed in 1998. Rather than using the third-person 3D presentation of later entries, it shows cities from a high, top-down perspective. The player steals vehicles, drives through traffic, runs from police, and accepts criminal work while trying to accumulate enough money to advance. Its mix of freely navigable streets, cars, missions, and law-enforcement pursuit established the structure later sequels inherited.

The campaign is divided among three fictional urban areas: Liberty City, San Andreas, and Vice City. These names were reused and transformed in subsequent Grand Theft Auto games, but the 1997 versions are distinct, compact maps. Liberty City contains districts including Brooklyn, while San Andreas is presented as a city rather than the state-sized region used in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Vice City is the final area. Each city has its own criminal contacts and jobs, and progression depends on reaching a required cash total. Missions are commonly initiated at public telephones, which give the player an instruction and a location rather than a cinematic on screen.

Player choice exists chiefly in movement and criminal opportunity, not in a branching story. A mission might require delivering a vehicle, killing a target, collecting a package, or escaping an area, and failure can cost money or a life. The game tracks a wanted level represented by stars; police vehicles and officers respond as the level rises. Players can also visit respray shops to change a car's appearance and reduce police attention. Pedestrians, ambulances, fire engines, taxis, and trains help make the map active. The design allows collisions and violence, including the controversial Gouranga bonus awarded for hitting Hare Krishna pedestrians.

The game's development was marked by a change of identity. It began as Race'n'Chase, a concept focused on police chases, before designers shifted attention toward the criminal player character. The title's launch provoked press attention for its violence and car theft, a reputation that became inseparable from the franchise. In 1999, DMA Design released Grand Theft Auto: London 1969, an expansion requiring the original game and set in London; Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 followed later as a free PC expansion. The original game was subsequently made available as a free download by Rockstar Games, preserving access to the first chapter of a long-running worldwide series.