What month do GTA games take place?

[sefus]

I always assume Mid summer, June/July, but in GTA SA when you visit Liberty city it's snowing, so i've always assumed that GTA SA was probably set in March-April~ish.

[Evil empire]

The GTA's always take place before the 13th month, any other question?

[CynicalMexican]

Kinda interesting question.

 

- GTA 3 is cold and dreary but not snowy, it probably takes place in October-November 2001.

 

- GTA Vice City takes place during a hurricane but is largely sunny, I would assume August 1986.

 

- GTA San Andreas is a bit more difficult. The snow in Liberty City would imply around November-December 1992, but the LA Riots take place as the LS Riots, which occurred in April 1992. There aren't many orange trees in GTA SA either. Maybe February-April 1992, with LC getting hit by late snow or something when CJ visits. The license plates in SA are all dated to October though, hmm.

 

- GTA Liberty City Stories is definitely October-November 1998.

 

- GTA Vice City Stories is probably August 1984, but the Christmas lights in Little Havana indicate a November-December setting.

 

- GTA IV is October-November 2008.

 

- GTA V is a bit harder to pin down. I want to say Spring-Summer of 2013 just because it seems so warm and the days last so long (and the trees are all blooming) but North Yankton is covered in snow, implying the game takes place in winter. 

[E Revere]

1 hour ago, CynicalMexican said:

Kinda interesting question.

 

- GTA 3 is cold and dreary but not snowy, it probably takes place in October-November 2001.

 

- GTA Vice City takes place during a hurricane but is largely sunny, I would assume August 1986.

 

- GTA San Andreas is a bit more difficult. The snow in Liberty City would imply around November-December 1992, but the LA Riots take place as the LS Riots, which occurred in April 1992. There aren't many orange trees in GTA SA either. Maybe February-April 1992, with LC getting hit by late snow or something when CJ visits. The license plates in SA are all dated to October though, hmm.

 

- GTA Liberty City Stories is definitely October-November 1998.

 

- GTA Vice City Stories is probably August 1984, but the Christmas lights in Little Havana indicate a November-December setting.

 

- GTA IV is October-November 2008.

 

- GTA V is a bit harder to pin down. I want to say Spring-Summer of 2013 just because it seems so warm and the days last so long (and the trees are all blooming) but North Yankton is covered in snow, implying the game takes place in winter. 

In my headcanon, SA's story takes a very long time, up to 9 months or so. Consider that. It could explain the different settings of weather.

 

More on that here:

 

[The Tracker]

GTA III: Its short story and gloomy autumn vibe, along with its subtle Post 9/11 atmosphere can already tell you that the story takes place in October-November 2001.

 

GTA VC: Short story set during hurricane season, and with sunrises that start pretty early, it's definitely set in summer, most likely around July-August 1986.

 

GTA SA: Long story, with a snowy Liberty City in the latter part, and a resemblance to LA Riots which happened in April 1992, it definitely is set from mid-winter to mid-spring, being the months January-April 1992. 

 

GTA LCS: Short story, with a gloomy and deep autumn vibe just as its 2001 counterpath, but this time with occational snow during Import/Export missions, I would say it takes place during November-December 1998 (game's manual implies it starts in October 30, but it's so late in that month we could just ignore that).

 

GTA VCS: Short story, I would say it is the hardest to tell of the series. It probably is set in summer, more specifically August-September, as the manual implies, but it could as well be set in November-December, since there are Christmas decorations on some parts of the map. 

 

GTA IV: Long story, with tons of different cannonical side interactions (Friend Hang-outs, Girlfriend Dates, Stranger Missions, to name a few) happening alongside with it. It's obviously set during autumn, because of the color of many trees's leaves, which varies from yellow to red, not to mention the weather, that clearly is usually below the 60s ºF, not only because of the clothing of everyone, but because of the characters's breath evaporation that you can notice at times. I would say the whole Niko, Johnny and Luis stories take place in September-December 2008. 

 

GTA V: Long story, that just as GTA IV, has tons cannonical side interactions happening between missions. The game has this warm feeling and colors, at least, in the Old-Gen versions, mixed with days and sunsets which last very long, beaches which are more crowded than any other game in the series, and even calendars that imply it's August and September, but latter in the story you have North Yankton, with a booming snowfall that might be hard to get outside of winter, plus some Halloween decorations in the map and even NPCs talking about it being October. It most likely takes place in late summer-early autumn, with an early autumn snow storm on the Luddendorf region when Michael and Trevor come back, and the months being August-October 2013.

Edited September 1, 2021 by The Tracker

[Americana]

It's pretty interesting to see NPCs wearing coats in Grand Theft Auto IV, and there is always that one girl wearing shorts and a tank top.

[J LaFleur]

Vice City Stories: November - December 1984

Vice City: July - August 1986

San Andreas: January - early May 1992 (riots ended on May 4 irl)

Liberty City Stories: April - May 1998

GTA III: October - November 2001

 

GTA IV: October - November 2008

GTA V: September - October 2013

[AmigaMix]

Regarding VCS, there are actually several things hinting at a a story stretching from late '84 to early/mid '85:

 

• As others have mentioned, there is holiday decoration in some parts of the map
• Martinez' "Happy Holidays" - line in "Brawn of the Dead"
• "Los Santos Fop" being unmistakably based on a film released in December 1984
• A similar case can be made for "Push-Up - The Movie" which is a spoof of Rocky IV (late 1985)
• "Nightshift", a song released in January 1985, is part of VCFL's tracklist
• most intriguingly: Phil Collin's concert being a reenactment of an actual concert given as part of the The No Jacket Required World Tour (11 February 1985 - 13 July 1985)

 

Coincidence? Probably.

...But, who knows?

 

Edited September 4, 2021 by AmigaMix

[ThatBenGuy1998]

Just my personal opinion.

VCS: August-September 1984

VC: August-September 1986

SA: January-May 1992
LCS: August-September 1998

III: October-November 2001

IV/EFLC: April-May 2008

V: September-October 2013

[H-G]

On 9/1/2021 at 4:45 AM, The Tracker said:

GTA LCS: Short story, with a gloomy and deep autumn vibe just as its 2001 counterpath, but this time with occational snow during Import/Export missions,

A little correction: The snowfall happens during the Car Salesman side-mission (and only on the PSP version but that's another story), not the Import-Export one.

 

Moreover, it's interesting how the Car Salesman side-mission is unlocked after the third storyline mission, and going by the logic of one mission per day while basing it on the statement in the game's manual that the story begins on October 30, it makes a lot of sense for it to snow on the 2nd of November.

Edited September 4, 2021 by H-G

[Rob72891]

GTA VCS: August 1984. It even says it on the instruction booklet. Plus considering it takes around 20:00 (AKA 8 PM) for the sun to set, it's definitely set in the summer.

 

GTA VC: July-August 1986. This is also set during the summer for obvious reasons.

 

GTA SA: September-December 1992. People always say it's set in January and want it to be in April since that was where the real-life riots began. But most of the songs in the game, such as "Nuthin But a G Thang" were released much later in 1992, which wouldn't make sense for this game to be set in January. Plus it gets dark past 19:00 (AKA 7 PM). So it makes much more sense for this game to be set in late 1992 instead.

 

GTA LCS: October 30, 1998. That's what the booklet states.

 

GTA III: October 18, 2001. The date was already given away via plot description.

 

GTA IV: September-November 2008. It's at least around the fall due to the cold air around the characters when they speak in cutscenes.

 

GTA V: November 2013.

[Americana]

26 minutes ago, Rob72891 said:

GTA SA: September-December 1992. People always say it's set in January and want it to be in April since that was where the real-life riots began. But most of the songs in the game, such as "Nuthin But a G Thang" were released much later in 1992, which wouldn't make sense for this game to be set in January.

 

This one doesn't matter at all.

[Eugene H. Krabs]

Not many people know this, so I guess I'll be the first to point it out:

 

In Chinatown Wars, you can find out the exact date the game starts in by going to the PDA's settings. There, it'll have a date of September 26, 2009.

[The Tracker]

3 hours ago, Rob72891 said:

GTA SA: September-December 1992. People always say it's set in January and want it to be in April since that was where the real-life riots began. But most of the songs in the game, such as "Nuthin But a G Thang" were released much later in 1992, which wouldn't make sense for this game to be set in January. Plus it gets dark past 19:00 (AKA 7 PM). So it makes much more sense for this game to be set in late 1992 instead.

 

Well, both TLAD and TBoGT take place simultaneously with the main game (Fall 2008), yet they added tons of 2009 songs. I don't think it matters at all, we could just say that in the GTA universe all those songs happened to be released earlier, or they're simply not cannonical and are there just for aesthetic reasons, who knows. 

Edited September 12, 2021 by The Tracker

[Rob72891]

8 hours ago, The Tracker said:

 

Well, both TLAD and TBoGT take place simultaneously with the main game (Fall 2008), yet they added tons of 2009 songs. I don't think it matters at all, we could just say that in the GTA universe all those songs happened to be released earlier, or they're simply not cannonical and are there just for aesthetic reasons, who knows. 

I'm very sure plenty of sources gave away the time of year it's set in based on this description:

 

"Set in late 1992,[9] San Andreas revolves around the gang member Carl “CJ” Johnson returning home from Liberty City to Los Santos after learning of his mother’s murder."

 

https://enautomotive.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/download-gta-san-andreas-pc-games/

https://www.amazon.in/Las-Vegas-Nevada-Fiction-Department/dp/1158126042

https://cubansgang.weebly.com/grand-theft-auto-san-andreas.html

 

Also, in the game, the sun starts setting at around 19:00 (AKA 7 PM), which usually happens during the early fall. So late 92 seems like the right time for this game's setting.

Edited September 13, 2021 by Rob72891

[Lioness30]

In my opinion 

GTA III: October 18th 2001 to Mid November 2001 

GTA VC: Late June 1986 to Late July or Early August 1986 

GTA SA: Mid January 1992 to April or May 1992 because of the LA riots 

GTA LCS: October 30th 1998 to Late November 1998 

GTA VCS: Early November 1984 to Mid December 1984

GTA IV/EFLC: Early September 2008 to Late October 2008

   GTA V: Late August 2013 to Early October 2013

 

Edited August 13 by Lioness30