Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is one of the action-adventure video games developed by Rockstar North and is the third installment of the Grand Theft Auto series in 3D time. Set in 1992, the game features Carl Johnson (also known as CJ), who returns home to Los Santos after learning of his mother's murder and finds his family and his gang, the Grove Street Families, in shambles. During the game, CJ will slowly uncover the inside story of his mother's murder and revive the gang and develop his own business.

The story takes place in the fictional state of San Andreas, which is based on parts of the real states of California and Nevada. San Andreas consists of three cities: "Los Santos", which corresponds to Los Angeles, "San Fierro", which corresponds to San Francisco, and "Las Vegas", which corresponds to Las Vegas. The three cities are connected by several highways, a railroad system and three airports. The cities are surrounded by three counties: Red County, Flint County and Bone County, for a total of 12 towns, and the countryside is mostly based on the southwest region of the United States. Players can climb the 800-meter-high Mount Chiliad (based on Devil's Peak) and play skydiving on different peaks and skyscrapers. Other famous places include Sherman Dam (Sherman Dam) based on Hoover Dam, Area 69, a large secret military base with reference to Area 51, a large dish-shaped satellite dish with reference to Very Large Array, Vinewood sign based on Hollywood sign, etc. Interestingly, the Garver Bridge in San Fierro is based on the real San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, but its appearance is based on a road bridge in Edinburgh, where the developer Rockstar North is located. The total area of San Andreas is 36 square kilometers, which is four times the size of Sin City and five times the size of Grand Theft Auto III's Liberty City.