Grand Theft Auto III received critical acclaim for its concept, gameplay, sound design, and visual fidelity, but generated controversies for its violence and sex.

Claude assists the Mafia with various operations, including winning a gang war against a local group of Triads, earning him the respect of Don Salvatore Leone (Frank Vincent).

During this time, he also provides assistance to corrupt police inspector Ray Machowski (Robert Loggia), whom he eventually helps flee the city, and influential businessman Donald Love (Kyle MacLachlan).

[b] The core development team of Grand Theft Auto III consisted of about 23 people at DMA Design in Edinburgh, who worked closely with publisher Rockstar Games in New York City.

Alan Jack, a DMA support engineer, described it as combining Body Harvest's (1998) exploration with Space Station Silicon Valley's city level.

After Take-Two Interactive acquired DMA from Infogrames in September 1999, the Space Station Silicon Valley and Grand Theft Auto 2 teams were combined.

[28] Executive producer Sam Houser had always wanted the series to move to 3D,[17] and DMA Design had experimented with 3D worlds in games like Body Harvest and Space Station Silicon Valley.

[29] Art director Aaron Garbut felt other video games at the time "were a thing you played", wanting Grand Theft Auto III to be "a place you lived in".

[40] He also cited the influence of The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario 64 and the 1990 film Goodfellas, describing Grand Theft Auto III as "a cross between a gangster movie and an RPG".

For the music, the team sought a broad diversity to recreate the real sensation of skipping through radio stations, reflecting the gangster movie culture invoked by the game.

The team used the talk radio stations to add character to the city and provide a "unique take on American life";[47] Sam Houser described it as "a very iconoclastic look at America".

[11][59][62] Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer called Grand Theft Auto III "a luscious, sprawling epic",[58] and Official PlayStation Magazine named it "the most innovative, outlandish, brilliant video game".

[65] GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann described the game as "an incredible experience that shouldn't be missed by anyone";[61] IGN's Doug Perry named it "one of the best titles of the year, on PlayStation 2, or on any system".

[62] GameSpot's Gerstmann found the missions entertaining and challenging, but noted exploring the game world also offers "a great deal of fun" to players.

[72] Daniel Morris of PC Gamer praised the gameplay tweaks provided by the port but criticised the lack of major additional features, such as an overhead map of the in-game city.

[68] IGN's Blevins similarly criticised the necessity of an advanced system for stable play, but ultimately felt the port looks "a bit nicer" than the original game.

[75][76] IGN's Peter Eykemans commended the port's smoother textures, especially condensed on a mobile screen,[77] while Destructoid's James Stephanie Sterling noted improvements in the character and vehicle models.

[3] Mark Walton of GameSpot wrote the game runs well on high-end devices like the Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy S II, but noticed significant frame rate and texture issues on the Xperia Play.

[76] Pocket Gamer's Mark Brown identified the game's short draw distance leading to sudden popup, although still found the models and textures "have been given a tune-up" in the port.

[75] IGN's Eykemans felt the controls "make half the experience frustrating",[77] and Destructoid's Sterling described them as "by far the biggest barrier toward enjoying" the port.

[3] Brown of Pocket Gamer found the touchscreen "hasn't hindered [the game] too drastically", commending simple movement and "effortless" driving mechanics.

[118] Joanna Weiss of The Boston Globe noted the "adrenaline" players feel when committing crimes in the game, excusing its violence due to its mature classification.

Take-Two recalled the game in Australia and Rockstar made appropriate changes; a modified version was released with an MA15+ classification in January 2002, removing instances of sexual acts with prostitutes.

[126] Jack Thompson, the lawyer representing the victims, denied Rockstar's claims and attempted to move the lawsuit into a state court for consideration under Tennessee's consumer protection act.

[136] Grand Theft Auto III is considered to have a leading role in the popularisation of sandbox games, inspiring those such as Crackdown, Mafia, Saints Row, True Crime, and Watch Dogs.

[139] Hal Halpin, president of the Entertainment Consumers Association, described Grand Theft Auto III as the "lightning rod for the violence-in-games debate".

[140] King said video games at the time were often associated with children or nerds, and the development team "wanted the rest of the entertainment industry to pay attention" and understand the medium could also contain mature, adult content.

[145] A completely redesigned version of the city was later used in Grand Theft Auto IV (2008),[146] The Lost and Damned (2009),[147] The Ballad of Gay Tony (2009),[148] and Chinatown Wars (2009).

[149] Grand Theft Auto III was released on 21 May 2002 for Windows, supporting higher screen resolutions and draw distance, and featuring more detailed textures.

[170] In July 2024, fan developer SKMP started creating a Dreamcast port, seen as a significant undertaking due to the console's limited memory;[171][172] it was released in December.