Heists in GTA

Updated 29 October 2026 · Fan site. Not affiliated with Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive.

Heists are large planned robberies that sit at the heart of Grand Theft Auto V (2013). Players pick an approach, hire a crew and finish setup jobs before the big score. GTA Online added co-op heists on 10 March 2015 and has expanded them since with The Doomsday Heist, The Diamond Casino Heist, The Cayo Perico Heist and more.

What are heists in GTA?

A heist is a robbery big enough that it needs a plan, a team and some preparation. Robbing banks and armoured vans has always been part of Grand Theft Auto, but Grand Theft Auto V was the first game to build its main story around them. Wikipedia notes that the story centres on the heist sequences. Since then, heists have become the most famous kind of content in GTA Online.

Were there heists before GTA V?

Yes, as single missions. Grand Theft Auto III (2001) begins with one going wrong: according to Wikipedia, Claude is shot and left behind by his girlfriend Catalina during a bank robbery. GTA Wiki lists three earlier missions it counts as heists. In Vice City, The Job has Tommy Vercetti put together a team to rob El Banco Corrupto Grande. In San Andreas, Breaking the Bank at Caligula's sees CJ and Wu Zi Mu hit a Mafia-backed casino in Las Venturas. In GTA IV, Three Leaf Clover has Niko Bellic join the McReary brothers to rob the Bank of Liberty.

The difference is structure. In those games the robbery is one mission, often prepared by a few smaller ones. GTA V turns preparation into a system with choices that change how the job plays out.

How do heists work in GTA V?

Each heist starts with a briefing, usually run by Lester Crest, an old friend of Michael De Santa whom Wikipedia describes as a disabled hacker. GTA Wiki explains that some heists then ask the player to choose between two approaches. A careful plan might mean coming in from the roof, while a loud one means storming through the front door. Wikipedia gives the example of a holdup where the team can either knock people out with a gas or charge in with guns raised.

Next come setup missions. These gather what the plan needs, such as vehicles, gear, masks, building plans or a getaway car left in the right spot. The player also hires a crew from a list of gunmen, drivers and hackers. According to GTA Wiki, skilled crew members take a bigger share of the money, while cheap newcomers can make mistakes during the job. Wikipedia adds that surviving accomplices take their cut from the reward. Crew members who survive also gain experience, so they do better if hired again.

The trio of Michael, Franklin Clinton and Trevor Philips take part in most of these, and the list follows GTA Wiki. The Big Score in Los Santos is the last heist of the story.

A few of the jobs stand out in the story. GTA Wiki says the Jewel Store Job is pulled to pay off the drug lord Martin Madrazo, that the Paleto Score ends with the crew fighting off the police and the army in a small northern town, and that the Bureau Raid is a raid on FIB headquarters to get evidence against the agent Steve Haines. The game came out on 17 September 2013 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, according to Wikipedia.

When did heists come to GTA Online?

GTA Online itself launched in October 2013, but co-op heists came later. According to Wikipedia, the Heists update launched on 10 March 2015 and needed teams of four players. GTA Wiki lists its five jobs as The Fleeca Job (a two-player introduction), The Prison Break, The Humane Labs Raid, Series A Funding and The Pacific Standard Job.

What are the later GTA Online heists?

Rockstar kept adding heists in later years, often in December. The dates below come from Wikipedia. The Doomsday Heist arrived on 12 December 2017 and can be played by teams of two to four. The Diamond Casino Heist followed on 12 December 2019. Its setup work can be done alone, but the heist itself needs at least two players. The Cayo Perico Heist came on 15 December 2020, with a new island added for it. The newest heist we found in Wikipedia's update list is The Kortz Center Heist, released on 14 July 2026, an art robbery planned from a studio inside the player's mansion.

Some updates borrow the heist format without the name. Wikipedia says The Contract (15 December 2021) is structured like past heists, and calls The Cluckin' Bell Farm Raid (7 March 2024) a series of heist-like missions.

Other updates sit close to heists without being listed as them. Wikipedia says The Chop Shop update (12 December 2023) added a salvage yard business used as a front for vehicle robberies, and Agents of Sabotage (10 December 2024) brought what it calls infiltration operations. We have kept those out of the table below because Wikipedia does not call them heists.