Grand Theft Auto V is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the first main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series since 2008's Grand Theft Auto IV. 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 arms smuggler Trevor Philips—and their efforts to commit heists while under pressure from a corrupt government agency and powerful crime figures. The open world design lets players freely roam San Andreas' open countryside and the fictional city of Los Santos, based on Los Angeles.
Grand Theft Auto V is an action-adventure game[2] played from either a third-person[3] or first-person perspective.[4][b] Players complete missions—linear scenarios with set objectives—to progress through the story.[5] Outside of the missions, players may freely roam the open world. Composed of the San Andreas open countryside area, including the fictional Blaine County, and the fictional city of Los Santos, the world is much larger in area than earlier entries in the series.[6][c] It may be fully explored after the game's beginning without restriction, although story progress unlocks more gameplay content.
In 2004,[i] Michael Townley, Trevor Philips, and Brad Snider partake in a botched robbery in Ludendorff, North Yankton, resulting in all three being presumed dead. Nine years later, Michael is living under witness protection with his family in the city of Los Santos, under the alias Michael De Santa. Across town, gangbanger Franklin Clinton is working for a corrupt Armenian car salesman and meets Michael while attempting to fraudulently repossess his son's car; the two later become friends. When Michael finds his wife Amanda sleeping with her tennis coach, he and Franklin chase the coach to a mansion, which Michael destroys in anger. The owner of the mansion turns out to be the girlfriend of Martin Madrazo, a Mexican drug lord who demands compensation to avoid further violence. Michael returns to a life of crime to obtain the money, enlisting Franklin as an accomplice. With the help of Michael's old friend Lester Crest, a disabled hacker, they perform a jewellery store heist to pay off the debt. Meanwhile, Trevor, who now lives in a trailer park on the outskirts of Los Santos, hears of the heist and realises that it was Michael's work; Trevor had believed that Michael was killed in their botched robbery nine years ago. Trevor tracks Michael down and reunites with him, forcing a reluctant Michael to accept him back into his life.As time goes on, the personal lives of the protagonists begin to spiral out of control. Michael's increasingly disreputable behaviour prompts his family to leave him. When he becomes a movie producer at film studio Richards Majestic, Michael comes into conflict with Devin Weston, a self-made billionaire venture capitalist and corporate raider, who vows revenge after his attempts to shut down the studio are thwarted by Michael. Franklin, meanwhile, rescues his friend Lamar Davis from rival gangster and former friend Harold "Stretch" Joseph, who repeatedly attempts to kill Lamar to prove himself to his new brethren. At the same time, Trevor's reckless efforts to consolidate his control over various black markets in Blaine County see him waging war against The Lost outlaw motorcycle club, several Latin American street gangs, rival meth dealers, private security firm Merryweather Security, and Triad kingpin Wei Cheng.
