Lore · All eras
Story year vs. release year
Two timelines, one better way to explore.
A game’s publication date and the year of its story answer different questions. The encyclopedia timeline uses first release years.
A familiar example
Vice City was released in 2002 and is set in 1986. Vice City Stories arrived in 2006 but takes place in 1984. Release order shows how the games evolved; story order follows events within a continuity.
Sources & further reading
Original GTAZen introductions, with references for deeper reading. Source review date: .