The Most Criminal GTA Game Isn’t The One You’d Expect

Experts at GTA BOOM analysed the Grand Theft Auto games to see which one places the most stock in committing an in-game crime for its characters to make it big.

The Grand Theft Auto franchise represents a guilty pleasure most of us have indulged in at one time or another. Although many other games can stake the claim that they want their players to roleplay any personality they like, the franchise is one of those that genuinely allows players to unabashedly perform actions they would shrink away from in the real world.

When you play any one of the many Grand Theft Auto games that entered the market, crime is at the centre of your daily existence, from the petty to the insane. Which title do you think requires the most crimes from the player to keep the story moving forward?

To answer this question, the experts at New Zealand-based GTA BOOM looked in-depth at each game’s mission requirements to see which game had the most “quests” mandating a crime to be committed before it can be considered accomplished.

This study excluded Grand Theft Auto II and the first Grand Theft Auto game as their mechanics focus solely on building points by committing crimes rather than using crime as a plot device to carry the storyline forward. Spin-offs were also excluded.

Results of the Study

Credit: Rockstar Games

Interestingly, Grand Theft Auto IV took the biggest slice of the pie with 79.54%, or 78, of its missions mandating criminal actions to be completed. Sixty-five require murder, with the eponymous car theft making up only 13 tasks in the player’s to-do list.

Its sequel, Grand Theft Auto V, placed second. GTA V had 37 missions that compelled the player to murder somebody in cold blood and 26 asking for an auto heist to be completed—these equal 75% of the game’s missions.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas takes third place, with 61 missions, or 70.93%, asking the player to commit a crime before the story can proceed. San Andreas is followed by Grand Theft Auto III, with 70% of its missions oriented towards crime.

Last but not least - Grand Theft Auto Vice City, with only 68.75% of its missions ending with a crime being committed. GTA III had 17 murder quests and seven focusing on doling out property damage.

Rockstar Games Uses In-Game Crime to Send a Message

Credit: Rockstar Games

Rockstar Games has courted controversy several times in its history due to the graphic violence and open depiction of crime in its open-world games. However, GTA BOOM founder Matt Gibbs said using such elements is mainly the developer’s way of making social commentary.

“Rockstar embraces this aspect of their games, often using it as a tool for social commentary and satire… [They have] always used its criminal elements to deliver a message,” Gibbs pointed out.

Gibbs is confident that the same format will appear in the upcoming GTA VI, whose record-breaking trailer showed the game’s protagonist spending time in jail and committing robberies.

He added, “It remains to be seen how Rockstar will use these elements to comment on contemporary issues and deliver their signature brand of satire.”

Rockstar Games launched the first trailer of GTA VI in December 2023 after a sudden leak that forced the studio to move up the release date. The trailer introduces the protagonist, Lucia, and reveals the game’s return to Vice City.