Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V is a 2013 open-world action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. Set in the fictional state of San Andreas, its single-player story follows three playable criminals: retired bank robber Michael De Santa, gang-affiliated street hustler Franklin Clinton, and unstable career criminal Trevor Philips. The game begins with a 2004 robbery in Ludendorff, North Yankton, where Michael and Trevor escape after their accomplice Brad Snider is shot. Nine years later, Michael lives in Los Santos under an arrangement with corrupt FIB agent Dave Norton, while Franklin works repossessing vehicles for dealership owner Simeon Yetarian.

Franklin’s recovery of Michael’s son Jimmy’s boat brings the two together, and Michael soon returns to crime. Their jobs include robbing a jewelry store in Rockford Hills, stealing an experimental weapon from Merryweather Security, and raiding the Paleto Bay branch of Blaine County Savings Bank. Trevor discovers that Michael survived North Yankton and comes to Los Santos, exposing the lie that Brad had been imprisoned rather than killed. The three are pulled between the FIB, represented by Steve Haines and Andreas Sanchez, and the IAA, while billionaire Devin Weston uses them for thefts involving cars and an aircraft.

The central late-game operation is the Union Depository heist, planned by Lester Crest, an information broker who also directs earlier robberies. Players choose approaches and recruit crew members, whose skill levels and survival can affect outcomes. GTA V’s defining structural feature is instant switching among Michael, Franklin, and Trevor outside certain missions; each has a special ability. Michael slows time during gunfights, Franklin slows driving, and Trevor enters a rage that increases damage dealt and reduces damage received. Their separate lives also support activities such as tennis, golf, flight school, stock trading, and property purchases across Los Santos and Blaine County.

At the finale, Franklin must choose between killing Michael, killing Trevor, or rejecting both assassination demands in the option commonly called Deathwish. In Deathwish, the trio survives, works with Lester and Lamar Davis, and eliminates several enemies, including Haines, Stretch, Wei Cheng, and Weston. Grand Theft Auto V launched for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in September 2013, then reached PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2014, Windows in 2015, and PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2022. Its separate multiplayer component, Grand Theft Auto Online, begins with the player arriving in Los Santos and has received continuing updates.