The game's development began around the time of Grand Theft Auto IV 's release and was shared between many of Rockstar's studios worldwide. Grand Theft Auto Online, the game's online multiplayer mode, lets up to 30 players engage in a variety of different cooperative and competitive game modes.

A 'wanted' system governs the aggression of law enforcement response to players who commit crimes. The story is centred on the heist sequences, and many missions involve shooting and driving gameplay.

Players control the three lead protagonists throughout single-player and switch among them, both during and outside missions. The game is played from either a third-person or first-person perspective, and its world is navigated on foot and by vehicle. The open world design lets players freely roam San Andreas' open countryside and the fictional city of Los Santos, based on Los Angeles. Set within the fictional state of San Andreas, based on Southern California, the single-player story follows three protagonists-retired bank robber Michael De Santa, street gangster Franklin Clinton, and drug dealer and gunrunner Trevor Philips-and their attempts to commit heists while under pressure from a corrupt government agency and powerful criminals. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 2008's Grand Theft Auto IV, and the fifteenth instalment overall. Grand Theft Auto V is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games.

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