GTA

Grand Theft Auto (GTA) is a series of action-adventure games created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is primarily developed by British development house Rockstar North (formerly DMA Design), and published by its American parent company, Rockstar Games. The name of the series is a term for motor vehicle theft in the United States.

Gameplay focuses on an open world where the player can complete missions to progress an overall story, as well as engage in various side activities. Most of the gameplay revolves around driving and shooting, with occasional role-playing and stealth elements. The series also has elements of the earlier beat 'em up games from the 16-bit era. The games in the Grand Theft Auto series are set in fictional locales modelled after real-life cities, at various points in time from the early 1960s to the 2010s.The series has been critically acclaimed, with all the main 3D entries in the franchise frequently ranked among the greatest and best-selling video games, it has shipped more than 405 million units, making it one of the best-selling video game franchises. In 2006, Grand Theft Auto was featured in a list of British design icons in the Great British Design Quest organized by the BBC and the Design Museum. In 2013, The Telegraph ranked Grand Theft Auto among Britain's most successful exports. Grand Theft Auto Double Pack was released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and includes both Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy is a compilation of III, Vice City, and San Andreas, and was first released in 2005 for the Xbox. It was later re-released for the PlayStation 2, Windows, Mac OS X, and PlayStation 4.The Trilogy also served as the revised package for San Andreas, which had to be pulled from shelves due to the controversial Hot Coffee mod. A report in August 2021 suggested that Rockstar Dundee was leading development on a remastered version of the trilogy, using Unreal Engine; following some leaks, Rockstar officially announced Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition on 8 October 2021. The game features graphical and gameplay upgrades, and replaced existing versions on digital retailers. It was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on 11 November 2021, and the release date for Android and iOS is to be announced. Segment in the latest instalment caused controversy for scenes containing player-initiated torture. The mission "By the Book" features graphic depictions of kneecapping, electrocution, dental extraction and waterboarding, and the player is required to perform an act of torture in order to progress in the game.

UK-based charity Freedom from Torture publicly condemned the use of torture scenes in Grand Theft Auto V. The organization, who works to rehabilitate survivors of torture, joined other human rights charities who were outraged at a torture scene in the game in which the players have to pull teeth and electrocute an unarmed man in order to extract information. The charity's CEO Keith Best stated: "Rockstar North has crossed a line by effectively forcing people to take on the role of a torturer and perform a series of unspeakable acts if they want to achieve success in the game."

The game has also been accused of sexism. The Los Angeles Times considered the game's satirical portrayals of women uncreative, and added that violent and sexist themes hurt the game experience. Edge noted that while "every female in the game exists solely to be sneered, leered or laughed at", it treated its all-male lead characters in a similar vein through their stereotyped tendencies towards violence. Sam Houser, Rockstar Games co-founder, felt that the development team sometimes overlooked their portrayal of women in Grand Theft Auto games, but that the weight towards male characters "fit with the story we wanted to tell".