The next installment of the series, Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA IV), was originally slated to be released in October 2007 worldwide for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, the first Grand Theft Auto game to be released simultaneously on the PlayStation and Xbox platforms. However, the game has been delayed, but will officially be released April 29th, 2008. It has been confirmed that episodic content will be released exclusively for the Xbox 360. Microsoft officially announced a strategic alliance with Rockstar Games over the rights to episodic content through their Xbox Live service at their X06 event.

GTA IV's game engine is the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (a.k.a. RAGE) used in Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis. The game once again takes place in a redesigned Liberty City that very closely resembles New York City, much more than previous renditions.