GTA 5 celebrates its 10th anniversary: A deep-dive into the legendary legacy it leaves behind

GTA 5's 10th anniversary is officially on September 17, 2023. This legendary game originally hit store shelves on the PS3 and Xbox 360 back on September 17, 2013. Since then, this title has become available on two more console generations, with its most recent ports being for the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Most important of all, this game has sold over 185 million copies worldwide.

There is no doubt that GTA 5 has a legacy worth looking back, having made its debut a decade ago. Rockstar Games celebrated its anniversary with a new weekly update in Grand Theft Auto Online, which essentially included a bunch of familiar-looking clothing items and weapon finishes for the game's 10th year afloat.

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Rockstar celebrates GTA 5's 10th anniversary with some clothes and weapon finishes in GTA Online

Here are the GTA 5-themed clothes introduced in Grand Theft Auto Online as part of its 10th-anniversary update:

• The Homie
• The Retired Criminal
• The Groupie

The weapon finishes included were:

• Employee of the Month finish for the Micro SMG
• Suede Bucks finish for the Carbine Rifle
• Uncle T finish for the RPG

Grand Theft Auto Online players got these rewards just for logging in to the game anytime between September 14 and September 27, 2023.

These were the free outfits (Image via Rockstar Games)

Rockstar Games thanked the fans for GTA 5's 10th anniversary by stating the following in its September 14 Newswire post:

"As Grand Theft Auto V turns 10 this coming Sunday, we would like to thank you, our players, for your incredible support over the years. This amazing community is the reason GTAV has thrived across multiple console generations and given us the opportunity to grow and update GTA Online with new features and content over these past 10 years, and your support is truly humbling. A massive thank you to anyone who has ever played, streamed, roleplayed, created, or shared from the world of Los Santos and Blaine County!"

It was quite a touching message for the game's 10th anniversary. Now let's look back at what GTA 5 did back in 2013 that players still love today and why it's leaving a legacy behind, with its successor expected to come out in fiscal 2025.

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Some of GTA 5's best features

The three protagonists of the single-player game (Image via Rockstar Games)

Here is a quick rundown of this game's best features that helped contribute to its success throughout the years on the eve of its 10th anniversary:

• GTA Online: Multiplayer game modes have existed in prior Grand Theft Auto games, but GTA Online was by far the most successful one. It even gets updates to this day.
• Three protagonists: Having multiple playable protagonists in a single Grand Theft Auto game was unheard of back then.
• Largest map in the series: Players who love big maps tend to appreciate GTA 5's humongous map that dwarves all other game worlds within the series.
• Weapon Wheel: This way of selecting weapons has been far more popular than the old manual methods of scrolling through them.
• Heavy emphasis on heists: Heists were some of the most fun content from past games, so focusing on them here was brilliant.
• Director Mode: This feature was introduced in the Enhanced Edition, giving players more control over who they want to play as alongside several other customizable settings.
• A plethora of side missions: There are dozens of Random Events and Strangers and Freaks for players to do.
• Many interactable animals: Dogs, cats, and other wildlife are present and can be interacted with like normal NPCs.

It's not surprising that this game was as successful as it was.

This game contains some people's childhood memories (Image via Rockstar Games)

Players got thousands of hours' worth of content by purchasing GTA 5 since they also got Online automatically with it. Even if you just focus on single-player content, the former game is still filled to the brim with activities for you to do. While some gamers might have found the plot lacking as a whole, the actual gameplay involving Franklin, Michael, and Trevor was genuinely fun.

Each of the three protagonists has their own storyline missions and unique features. For example, Trevor Philips stomping Johnny Klebitz at the start of his plotline was controversial yet highly memorable. In fact, he was a divisive character, in general, due to how chaotic he was at times — especially considering he could feed people to a cannibal cult, among committing other heinous crimes.

This single island is home to many gamers' nostalgic memories, even on the 10th anniversary (Image via Rockstar Games)

The large scale of this title's map could be a lot of fun to explore through, especially for gamers who like to take photographs. Similarly, this game had dozens of cool vehicles for players to experiment with, alongside numerous other customizable features that helped make your playthrough feel unique compared to somebody else's.

The joy of playing such a complete title back in 2013 was immense. It might feel old by modern standards, but GTA 5 is still enjoyable on the eve of its 10th anniversary. One can only hope that GTA 6 (or whatever Rockstar's next Grand Theft Auto game will be called) can deliver on the hype.