Gameplay image, showing the top-down view in Liberty City The first sequel in the series, Grand Theft Auto 2, was released in October 1999. The success of Grand Theft Auto spawned a series of games which built upon the original's gameplay and themes the Grand Theft Auto series has since become one of the most popular and best-selling video game franchises of all time. Two expansions taking place in 1960s England, Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 and Grand Theft Auto: London 1961, were launched in 1999. While the graphics and controls were criticised, the entertainment value, sound design and freedom of the gameplay were praised. Grand Theft Auto was met with mixed reviews upon release, but was a commercial success. The game's marketing campaign, organized by publicist Max Clifford, exploited this stirring of controversy as free promotion. Grand Theft Auto created a great deal of controversy even before its launch due to its violent content, with discussions taking place in the House of Lords about banning its sale.

The development team worked to ensure that the player would have the freedom to play however they intend. However, the game was considered dull, and the concept of playing as a criminal was adopted.

Grand Theft Auto began development as a game titled Race 'n' Chase, in which the player controlled a police officer pursuing criminals. The gameplay is presented from a top-down perspective and takes place within an open-world environment in which the player is not required to perform missions, although they are necessary to progress through the levels.

The game's narrative follows a criminal who climbs in status within the criminal underworld across three fictional cities, inspired by real-life locations.

It is the first title of the Grand Theft Auto series and was released in November 1997 for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows, in December 1997 for the PlayStation and in October 1999 for the Game Boy Color. Grand Theft Auto is an action-adventure video game developed by DMA Design and published by BMG Interactive.

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