Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Updated 28 October 2026 · Fan site. Not affiliated with Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a 2004 open-world game by Rockstar North, released for PlayStation 2 on 26 October 2004 in North America. It is set in 1992 in the state of San Andreas, which has three cities based on Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas. Players control Carl "CJ" Johnson, a gang member who returns home after his mother is killed.

Who is the main character in GTA San Andreas?

The hero is Carl "CJ" Johnson, voiced by rapper Young Maylay in his first acting role. CJ left Los Santos for Liberty City years earlier. He comes back in 1992 for his mother's funeral after she is killed in a drive-by shooting. His brother Sweet and sister Kendl still live on Grove Street.

Story

As soon as CJ lands, corrupt police officer Frank Tenpenny of the CRASH unit pressures him into doing his dirty work. CJ helps Sweet rebuild the Grove Street Families and becomes friends with Cesar Vialpando, Kendl's boyfriend. He then learns that his old friends Big Smoke and Ryder have betrayed the gang and were behind his mother's death.

The story sends CJ out of the city into the countryside, to San Fierro and on to Las Venturas. Along the way he works against the Loco Syndicate drug ring and does jobs for Mike Toreno, a mysterious government agent. CJ finally returns to Los Santos during a city-wide riot. The story closes when Tenpenny dies after a crash during the riot.

The game holds a Guinness World Record for the largest voice cast in a video game, with 861 credited actors.

How big is the San Andreas map?

It was by far the biggest map in the series at the time. Instead of one city, it covers a whole state based on California and Nevada. Three cities sit inside it: Los Santos (Los Angeles), San Fierro (San Francisco) and Las Venturas (Las Vegas). Countryside, forests, desert and small towns fill the space between them.

How does GTA San Andreas play?

It adds light role-playing systems to the series. CJ's body changes with what he eats and how much he exercises, and he can get fat or muscular. Skills such as driving, stamina and lung capacity improve with use. You can change his clothes, hair and tattoos, and go on dates with six different women.

There are more than 180 vehicles, including cars, bikes, boats, planes and remote-control toys. CJ can run, swim and dual-wield guns. In Los Santos you can fight rival gangs for control of neighbourhoods. The wanted level still goes up to six stars. A two-player mode lets a friend roam the map with you.

What was the Hot Coffee controversy?

During development Rockstar cut a sex minigame to keep an M rating, but its code stayed on the disc. In 2005 a modder named Patrick Wildenborg unlocked it on PC and released the patch as "Hot Coffee". On 20 July 2005 the ESRB re-rated the game Adults Only, and major US chains such as Walmart and Best Buy pulled it.

Rockstar released a PC patch in August 2005 and edited M-rated versions later that year. In June 2006 the US Federal Trade Commission settled with Take-Two and Rockstar, requiring them to disclose such content in future. It did not fine them. A US class action over the case settled in 2008.

Release, reception and sales

The PS2 version scored 95 out of 100 on Metacritic, and the PC and Xbox versions 93. Critics praised the characters, story, map and visuals. They criticised some mission design, pop-in and frame-rate drops, and some questioned how it portrayed race.

It sold about 4.5 million copies in its first week and was the best-selling US game of 2004. It is the best-selling PlayStation 2 game, with about 17.33 million units by 2009. Wikipedia reports about 27.5 million copies sold worldwide by September 2011.

Legacy

Critics widely rank it among the best games ever made. Moments such as Big Smoke's long fast-food order and CJ's line on arrival became lasting internet memes. A remaster was included in The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition in 2021, which launched to poor reviews. A Meta Quest VR version was announced in 2021 but put on hold in 2024. The state of San Andreas returned, rebuilt around Los Santos and Blaine County, in GTA V.