Rockstar just revealed the box art for the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto 6 ahead of opening pre-orders next week. That got me thinking about the history of this franchise’s box art, which ranges from lazy logos to stylized collages of recognizable elements from the series.
Box art for games isn’t nearly as important as it once was, as the vast majority of them are bought digitally now. Still, box art can tell you a lot about what a developer or publisher wants you to think about their game. Here’s how we’d rank every Grand Theft Auto game’s box art, from worst to best.
13
Grand Theft Auto Advance
Starting off with a stinker, the box art for GTA Advance certainly feels lazy. It’s simply the series’ logo on a gray background. It relies on name recognition to do all the work, and that simply makes it much less interesting than every other cover on this list. That’s a shame, because this is otherwise an impressive game that adapts elements of GTA 3 to a handheld console.
12
Grand Theft Auto 2
This box art is certainly the black sheep of the entire franchise, showing a sniper taking aim at a taxicab that’s being hijacked. The intentional blur on the image doesn’t make it particularly pleasant to look at, and the sniper’s reticle aiming at the taxicab’s hood rather than the hijacker makes its inclusion feel out of place. At least it’s better than the last one.
11
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
Now, we’re getting into the collages that have defined GTA box art for the past several decades. Although these are somewhat interchangeable, none of the images in this collage feels eye-catching or indicative of the vibe players can expect from the full game. Generally, it vastly pales in comparison to Vice City’s outstanding box art.
10
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
My issues with Liberty City Stories’ box art are similar to Vice City Stories’: too much emphasis on the faces of characters and weapons. Besides the title, it doesn’t portray Liberty City alluringly in its batch of featured art. Once again, it’s not nearly as good as the console box art it’s based on.
9
Grand Theft Auto
Something about the original GTA’s box art really captures my eye, as it shows a police car driving in front of a skyscraper using a fish-eye lens. Although the use of Trump Tower in the box art hasn’t aged well, this cover still sells a sense of vastness and intrigue that draws me in differently than any other game in the series. It makes me wonder what other kinds of covers this franchise could experiment with if it didn’t always use collages.
8
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
From here on out, all of the box art does a great job of representing the games they are based on. Chinatown Wars relies a little too much on highlighting weapons, although the profile of Wu Lee with a smoking gun and Huang Lee kicking someone gives it much-needed flair.
7
Grand Theft Auto 3
This is the game that started the franchise’s signature collage style, and I love how it plays with color and feels like a page ripped straight out of a comic book. Some parts of it, like the face split between two panels on the bottom right, don’t look quite right. GTA 3’s box art deserves its ranking for innovation, but there are certainly better covers than this.
6
Grand Theft Auto 6
The latest installment is not one of the series’ best. I like how vibrant it is, using color in a way that’s closer to GTA 3 than GTA 5, but it doesn’t show much of Vice City and overemphasizes slick vehicles and character portraits. I love the large roman numeral on the cover and alligator directly underneath the logo, but overall, I found it underwhelming compared to some of this franchise’s other iconic artwork.
5
Grand Theft Auto 4
This cover does a wonderful job of teasing the game’s seedy interpretation of Liberty City. Niko’s scowl is one of the first things that catches your attention before your eye is drawn downward, past a large logo, and to a police chase. It’s quintessential GTA box art, but not quite the best one.
4
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City
I love the cover of Episodes of Liberty City’s physical release. It’s a collage, but it doesn’t feel locked into restrictive rectangular patterns. It mixes action and a suaveness in a way that feels representative of both The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony. If a mainline GTA game’s cover had this much flair, it’d be my favorite.
