Today Grand Theft Auto III Turns 24 Years Old

Grand Theft Auto III, a game that changed the entire industry, was released on October 23, 2001. The project became a real breakthrough for Rockstar Games and set the standards for open worlds.

GTA III left the same mark on history as Tetris, Super Mario 64, Street Fighter II, and Halo. Its influence is still felt today, not only because of its popularity, but also because of how it changed the perception of game design.

After its release on PlayStation 2, the game sold 2 million copies by February 2002. Later, a version for Windows was released, and the total number of sales for the year increased to 6 million. Then GTA III, along with Vice City, was included in the Double Pack collection, released for Xbox and PS2. This set became a hit, selling 1.59 million copies. A total of 11.6 million were sold on PlayStation 2, and by March 2008, the total circulation reached 14.5 million copies.

Rockstar showed how to create a real, living open world. The player could freely move around Liberty City, listen to the radio, interact with passers-by, and feel that the city was living its own life. A huge world without loading screens, thousands of lines of dialogue, and the use of motion capture technology made the game revolutionary. The authors were inspired by New York and films like "Taxi Driver" and "Goodfellas."

Today, GTA III is included in The Trilogy - Definitive Edition collection, but the remaster received mixed reviews.

Grand Theft Auto III will remain a project that changed the industry and laid the foundation for modern open worlds.