Rockstar Accidentally Makes GTA 3 Free on iOS — Then Pulls It Back

Rockstar Games surprised everyone this morning by dropping the price of Grand Theft Auto 3 to zero on the iOS App Store. The mobile version of the classic 2001 open-world hit, normally priced at $4.99, suddenly went free for about an hour before it quietly returned to full price.

There was no official announcement, no tweet, no blog post. It simply happened. The sudden drop was picked up by deal-hunters online and quickly went viral, leading to a short-lived rush on the App Store.

If you were quick enough, congrats—you now own a digital piece of gaming history for free. If not, the moment is gone. And while the $4.99 tag isn’t exactly steep, free was definitely better.

“Early this morning, the price of Grand Theft Auto 3 on iOS dropped to free, down from £4.99/$4.99.”

The accidental giveaway was available to all iPhone and iPad users and granted full access to the game. According to store activity tracking tools, the price was updated again about 60 minutes later, restoring GTA 3 to its regular cost.

Rockstar’s Mistake or Marketing Genius?

It’s not clear whether this was a glitch or a clever experiment. But if you ask me, Rockstar knew exactly what it was doing.

I'll have the audacity to talk about marketing here. I think Rockstar knows how to trigger gamers into spending money better than anyone else in the business. You can just imagine a pitch meeting where someone in the Rockstar office casually suggests, “Let’s give GTA 3 away for free”—and the decision-makers approve it, but with conditions: no promotion, and only for an hour.

That’s the genius part. You cause a hype spike that drags everyone to the App Store to check if the deal is real. Even if they miss it, the curiosity turns into desire, and that leads to sales. You want to boost old game sales? Just leak a freebie moment that’s already over.

And there’s a second angle here, too: mobile nostalgia. I actually finished GTA: San Andreas entirely on iPhone, and automatic cloud saves made the experience smoother than the original console version. This iOS drop is low-key the easiest way to replay Rockstar classics in 2025.

Grand Theft Auto 3 turns 25 next year. It’s been released on almost every platform imaginable—PS2, PC, Xbox, mobile—and was remastered as part of GTA: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition. As of 2008, it had sold 14.5 million copies, and that number has only grown since then.

Yet the demand is clearly still there. The fact that a temporary mobile price drop created such a quick viral moment proves that GTA nostalgia is strong—and profitable.

GTA News

This wasn’t Rockstar’s first odd platform moment. A few weeks ago, we reported on how GTA V finally arrived in Saudi Arabia after 12 years of absence. That launch went mostly under the radar, but it showed how regional expansions and quiet updates are still a Rockstar strategy—even this deep into a game’s life cycle.

And earlier this month, Lucia Actress speculation intensified as one of the rumored leads in GTA 6 abruptly vanished from social media. Every move Rockstar makes, or doesn’t make, adds more fuel to the fire. People read into everything—and that’s exactly how Rockstar likes it.

Another recent moment came with the buzz around the GTA 4 Re-Release rumors, sparked by a temporary Rockstar website change that referenced Liberty City. While nothing has been confirmed yet, these moments are part of a bigger picture. Whether it’s a real drop or a mistake, anything involving GTA gets traction fast.

As for what’s next, GTA 6 is still far off, at least in official terms. And if the rumors are true, the next title won’t be cheap. Take-Two Interactive’s CEO didn’t exactly deny that the company sees GTA 6 as a $100 product, especially given its massive scope and high expectations. That’s a very different price tag than five bucks—or free—for GTA 3.

But the contrast is useful. Giving away a legacy title on mobile not only generates short-term buzz, it also keeps the brand active in daily conversation. It reminds people what Rockstar has built and what it’s about to drop.

And as this morning’s chaos proves, even a fleeting discount can get thousands of people back into the GTA ecosystem.

Whether intentional or not, the one-hour free window for GTA 3 on iOS looked like a carefully calculated micro-event. It wasn’t meant to last. It was designed to stir the waters just enough to make people look.

And they did. Some grabbed it for free, some missed it, and some probably just ended up buying it anyway.

Rockstar didn’t have to say a word. The game did all the talking.