With the Collectors Edition of the game, several bonus characters from other Rockstar titles make 'cameo' appearances as possible parents in the character creation tool - Grand Theft Auto IV protagonist Niko Bellic can be selected as a parent, along with Claude and Misty from Grand Theft Auto III. Unlike many other games where players can create their own character, physical appearance is not user-defined, but derived from the pre-set parent and grandparent characters that players choose. In GTA Online, players create their own customized characters through the use of a character creation tool. While the game was initially set a few months prior to the events of Grand Theft Auto V in 2013, the narratives of more recent updates, starting with 2017's Gunrunning update, take place in their respective years of release. The game is set in Southern San Andreas in the United States and the island of Cayo Perico in the Caribbean region of Colombia. The game is also Rockstar Games' most ambitious project since Grand Theft Auto III, and claimed that the ideas for the online game had been percolating since 2001. Unlike its predecessor, the game was never considered as an online component/multiplayer mode for Grand Theft Auto V by the developers. Since its original release in 2013, Grand Theft Auto Online is considered by Rockstar Games as the series' dedicated multiplayer title, set in a continually evolving world designed to grow in size and ambition over time. It is the sixteenth and latest instalment in the Grand Theft Auto series and the sixth HD Universe title of the series.

A standalone version of the game was released on March 15th, 2022, along with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S versions of GTA V and GTA Online.

The game was originally released on October 1, 2013, accessed for free through Grand Theft Auto V. Grand Theft Auto Online, more commonly known as GTA Online, is a story-driven online multiplayer action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games.

Grand theft auto online platforms