Grand Theft Auto III

Grand Theft Auto III is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It was the first 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto series. Set in Liberty City, loosely based on New York City, the story follows Claude, a silent protagonist who becomes entangled in a world of crime, drugs, gang warfare and corruption. The game is played from a third-person perspective and its world is navigated on foot or by vehicle. Its open world design lets players freely roam Liberty City.

Development was shared between DMA Design, based in Edinburgh, and Rockstar, based in New York City. Development involved transforming popular Grand Theft Auto elements into a fully 3D world for the first time. The game was delayed following the September 11 attacks to allow the team to change references and gameplay deemed inappropriate. Grand Theft Auto III was released in October 2001 for the PlayStation 2, in May 2002 for Windows, and in November 2003 for the Xbox. Mobile ports were released for the tenth anniversary in 2011, followed by a remastered version for the twentieth in 2021.

Grand Theft Auto III received acclaim for its concept, gameplay, sound design, and visual fidelity, but generated controversies for its violence and sex. It received year-end accolades from several gaming publications, and it is considered a landmark game in the open world concept, one of the most significant games of the sixth generation of consoles, and among the best video games. It was the best-selling video game of 2001 and among the best-selling PlayStation 2 games with over 11.6 million copies sold; it has sold over 14.5 million copies overall. The game was followed by Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002) and two prequels, Advance (2004) and Liberty City Stories (2005).