When an individual steals a car, motorcycle, or any other type of motor vehicle, then that person is said to have committed grand theft auto. Since automobiles tend to be of high value, all cases of automobile theft are treated as grand theft. Grand theft auto is a serious crime that may carry a heavy punishment.

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.

Parents need to know that Grand Theft Auto V is an adult action game for Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Windows platforms. It brims with gang violence, nudity, extremely coarse language, and drug and alcohol abuse.

There are currently seventeen games in the series, plus two expansion packs for the original and two expansions for GTA IV and including a multiplayer title.

The game was released for the PlayStation 2 on 23 October 2001 in North America. When porting the game to Windows, the team delayed it from the PlayStation 2 release in order to ensure quality, citing issues with the simultaneous platform release of previous Grand Theft Auto games.