GTA3 - What year?

[Blaze]

Amidst a Discord discussion a few days back regarding what year/time period GTA games were set I noticed someone claim that III was set in Millennium era New York. As both a large fan of the 3D era games and someone who hates misinformation related to those games I was quick to correct it to what we all know as GTA3's year - 2001. This got me thinking, does anything in III whether it be character dialogue, radio shows or ingame advertisements/billboards/etc actually specify the year? There is a plethora of media outside the game such as the E3 trailer which specifies "Liberty City - 2001" or the now archived Liberty Tree website where every article has the date of October 18th 2001 which is pretty definitive. It goes without saying I'm not trying to disprove that III is set in 2001,  just curious as to if anything in the game (as in an actual copy of the game with no outside media) makes any reference to the year.

[Martin4004]

8 hours ago, Sombra said:

 or the now archived Liberty Tree website where every article has the date of October 18th 2001 which is pretty definitive. It goes without saying I'm not trying to disprove that III is set in 2001,  just curious as to if anything in the game (as in an actual copy of the game with no outside media) makes any reference to the year.

Just a quick clarification, not every article from the Liberty Tree newspaper was published in October 2001. In fact, the vast majority of them were published before October 2001 to be more precise. As for any possible in-game references, maybe but only maybe, one of them could have been the Ammunation ad that was cut from the game. Why exactly? Well, because it referred to Saddam Hussein who was the subject of controversy related to PlayStation 2 consoles. Namely, this is about the situation when it came to light that Iraq had ordered 4,000 copies of this console. It was believed that they were purchased for military purposes. Specifically, Hussein allegedly planned to use the consoles to build a supercomputer that would allow him to hack all devices and platforms in the United States and tip the scales of the war in favor of the terrorists.

 

Apart from that... I don't know what else could suggest this year in particular.

[Aquamaniac]

2001 pre 9/11 makes sense, since it neither mentions the terror attack nor the millennial hype if I remember correctly. Sometimes what not is told is as relevant or even more than what is told. It might be set in 1998 too but it's too long ago for me to remember. But I would exclude 1999/2000 and past 9/11.

[dictatorial]

None of the GTA games have an actual calendar the time progression follows or a date the games take place in. The only exception being to this rule is San Andreas which explicitly depicts the date, 1992 at the start of the game. Bully also hasn't got a set time setting. RDR and RDR2 obviously do. 

I believe R* has chosen to keep the time setting of the game unknown, but the time PERIOD known. They make the game's time period known by simply building a world from that era, e.g. GTA III being somewhere in the early 2000's, Vice City somewhere in the 80's, IV somewhere in the mid 2000's and V, somewhere in the early 10's. 

This is done to immerse the player in that time period, rather than the year exactly. So expect to never find out which year III is set in, but we can take an educated guess. Either it's set in 2000, or 2001.  

 

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by dictatorial

[stef_92]

One thing that hints the year is the soundtrack. We don't count retro stations like Flashback and Double Cleff, and radios with music specifically written for the game like Head and Lips 106. So we are left with Game, Rise and MSX FM. MSX FM is very clear about it - it contains 3 short cuts from the compilation Moving Shadow 01.1 which was released in 2001. Game FM contains music released in 2000 and 2001. Rise FM also contains music released in 2000 and 2001 but people might ignore this as an evidence because these tracks could also be produced for the game (also the label stopped functioning shortly after that). But still, we have MSX FM and Game FM that help with year identification.

 

The second thing that proves the year is the website of Liberty Tree that you already mentioned. It's not just the 18th of October, there is a drop-down menu which allows you to select months back to March or February if I remember correctly. Usually the fictional websites that Rockstar create around every GTA game are considered part of the canon so there it is - it's 2001

[Yinepi]

It's late 2001, around October-ish more specifically.

[unopesci]

On 2/8/2024 at 6:46 PM, Yinepi said:

It's late 2001, around October-ish more specifically.

This. I don't understand why people are debating it.

[TaylorSwiftDies2038]

Have You Seen This Woman? | GTA Wiki | Fandom

 

This should be the proof in the pudding. Catalina is a canonically dead character and this article writes about her as alive.

 

So, the story must take place in October-November 2001.

[Blaze]

On 2/10/2024 at 2:40 AM, unopescio said:

This. I don't understand why people are debating it.

 

Like I said in the OP which people seem to have glossed over, I'm not trying to disprove or debate that III is set in 2001, I was merely curious at to whether anything in the game itself (ie no outside media such as the manual, game websites, etc) actually referenced the year.

[unopesci]

Fair, my comment was aimed at others. On that I cant really think of anything in game except for Moving Shadow 01.1 and other music as stef said. To confuse things there's the medieval millennium fair ad, it would be kind of odd to call a festival that after the year 2000 but I guess not impossible. Maybe rockstar recorded that or at least wrote it in the script back in 2000.

[Anywhere USA]

Every game is intentionally vague and you can only narrow it down a little bit.

 

GTA 3 and LCS are probably the most specific as we know when they start(III to the day and LCS to the week) with evidence to roughly align the rest of it,

 

VC could be literally anywhere in the year, VCS could be anywhere after August 1984, and SA seemingly spills into 1993 based on Mad Dogs album website.(though exactly when in the game is impossible to say. The only clue is that OG Lox’s album is released in 1992, and the radio message for that plays when you unlock San Fierro. And Mad Dog’s Album releases right before the riots. So new years could have happened anywhere from 555-We-Tip at the earliest to like, Riot at the latest)

Edited February 15, 2024 by Anywhere USA

[unopesci]

3 hours ago, Anywhere USA said:

Every game is intentionally vague and you can only narrow it down a little bit.

 

GTA 3 and LCS are probably the most specific as we know when they start(III to the day and LCS to the week) with evidence to roughly align the rest of it,

 

VC could be literally anywhere in the year, VCS could be anywhere after August 1984, and SA seemingly spills into 1993 based on Mad Dogs album website.(though exactly when in the game is impossible to say. The only clue is that OG Lox’s album is released in 1992, and the radio message for that plays when you unlock San Fierro. And Mad Dog’s Album releases right before the riots. So new years could have happened anywhere from 555-We-Tip at the earliest to like, Riot at the latest)

I guess VC would be easy to narrow down looking at the release dates of songs used.

Edited February 16, 2024 by unopescio

[Yinepi]

It might not be completely canon, but I've always thought of it like this;
I - Summer, 1997
II - Spring of an unknown year, probably 1999.
III - October, 2001
VC - Summer, 1986
SA - Jan 1st, 1992
LCS - October, 1998
VCS - Summer, 1984
IV - September, 2008
V - August, 2013

If I recall correctly, San Andreas is the only one with an actual in-game calendar which starts at the beginning of the game on January 1st, even though the game has a more summer-like setting.

Edited February 16, 2024 by Yinepi

[Máriommsdsdf]

On 2/15/2024 at 11:19 PM, Yinepi said:

II - Spring of an unknown year, probably 1999.
 

I heard that GTA 2 has a futuristic theme, and takes place in 2013, but I'm not sure if that's true, I've never played it.

[Yinepi]

1 hour ago, Mário César Baldessar Moro said:

I heard that GTA 2 has a futuristic theme, and takes place in 2013, but I'm not sure if that's true, I've never played it.

Yeah, I've heard that too actually, but I'm not sure if there is actually anything from a trusted source that proves the 2013 year. If there is anything, feel free to prove me wrong. 

[Máriommsdsdf]

14 hours ago, Yinepi said:

Yeah, I've heard that too actually, but I'm not sure if there is actually anything from a trusted source that proves the 2013 year. If there is anything, feel free to prove me wrong. 

In GTAWiki we have:

 

"The year the game is set in is extremely ambiguous. There are police records on the Grand Theft Auto 2 website showing the dates of July 7, 2013, and July 10, 2013, including the criminal records of characters who are killed during the events of the game, indicating the game may be set around July 2013. However, Johnny Riccaro, an in-game radio host, mentions that the millennium's coming, and mentions the Y2K bug, suggesting that Grand Theft Auto 2 is set in 1999, the year it was released."

 

So, I didn't know what I say.

[TaylorSwiftDies2038]

On 2/15/2024 at 6:19 PM, Yinepi said:

It might not be completely canon, but I've always thought of it like this;
I - Summer, 1997
II - Spring of an unknown year, probably 1999.
III - October, 2001
VC - Summer, 1986
SA - Jan 1st, 1992
LCS - October, 1998
VCS - Summer, 1984
IV - September, 2008
V - August, 2013

If I recall correctly, San Andreas is the only one with an actual in-game calendar which starts at the beginning of the game on January 1st, even though the game has a more summer-like setting.

 

GTA: San Andreas' start in late winter kinda makes sense; winter is (usually) warm in California and some years are a bit warmer than others.

 

The riots that take place in GTA: San Andreas are directly based on the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which took place in April 1992. Considering the length of GTA: San Andreas' storyline, it would make sense that from CJ's arrival from Liberty City to the final stages of the game, it's not unreasonable to think that GTA: San Andreas' events are from January - April 1992.

 

We know that it's snowing in Liberty City by the time CJ is there, which gives a hint that Liberty City must've gotten one last hit of snow before winter ended.

[Funktipus]

On 2/24/2024 at 1:54 AM, TaylorSwiftDies2038 said:

 

GTA: San Andreas' start in late winter kinda makes sense; winter is (usually) warm in California and some years are a bit warmer than others.

 

The riots that take place in GTA: San Andreas are directly based on the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which took place in April 1992. Considering the length of GTA: San Andreas' storyline, it would make sense that from CJ's arrival from Liberty City to the final stages of the game, it's not unreasonable to think that GTA: San Andreas' events are from January - April 1992.

 

We know that it's snowing in Liberty City by the time CJ is there, which gives a hint that Liberty City must've gotten one last hit of snow before winter ended.

 

Exactly, that's what I always about GTA:San Andreas' timeline. It has to take place in late winter 1992 because there's still snow in LC (here in NYC, sometimes we'll get snow in March, and in rare cases, early April). 

[Patrick10]

The coldest, darkest October 2001