Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

How to play Grand Theft Auto games through Netflix

CJ and Rider walking in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition.
Rockstar Games

While Netflix is known first and foremost as a movie and TV streaming service, it has also been building a catalog of games its subscribers can access. The library of titles has been growing over the years, and finally scored a big payday by adding Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy. This package contains three of the most influential open-world games of all time: Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, all originally released on the PlayStation 2 and enhanced for modern audiences.

If you’ve never explored the world of Netflix gaming, we’ll set the objective marker on your map and show you exactly how you can play Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy on Netflix.

Recommended Videos

How to play Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy on Netflix

The Netflix Games logo on the Pixel 4a.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The only two requirements to access Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy and any other game through Netflix are to have an active subscription and the Netflix App on either a phone or tablet device. These will need to run iOS 15 or later or Android 8.0 or later. Unfortunately, as of now at least, there’s no way to play Netflix games directly on your TV.

On your device of choice, open the Netflix app and either scroll down to the Mobile Games row or hit the Games tab. Find whichever title you want to play, tap it, and select Install to begin downloading the game. Each game in the trilogy will be listed separately, so you can pick which one (or all) you want to download. Once complete, just open the game and begin playing.

You can also download the titles by searching for them directly in the App or Play stores. Just search for the title you want and download it as normal. Note that this method still requires you to have both a Netflix subscription and the app, as the games will appear in the Games section of the app even when downloaded this way.

Jesse Lennox
Jesse Lennox has been a writer at Digital Trends for over four years and has no plans of stopping. He covers all things…
3 new PS Plus games you should play this weekend (November 22-24)
The protagonists of GTA V pose for the camera.

This week, we finally got a massive batch of new games added to the PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra game catalogs. It's a fantastic bunch of titles, thanks to the inclusion of some AAA heavy hitters like Grand Theft Auto V, as well as great retro classics, and even some standout indies. As there's a wealth of games to choose from, you might be having some trouble deciding which ones to check out first. I'd start with any of these three titles, which are all among the best games on PS Plus.
Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V needs little introduction, as it's one of the most iconic and bestselling video games ever. If you haven't played it before, know that this is one of the most entertaining open-world games ever made, with a strong main story about three men drawn back into a life of crime. On top of that, there's its nearly infinite online mode. Whether you're concerned with actually completing missions or just want to drive around and mess with the citizens of Los Santos, GTA V offers some of the most fun sandbox gaming available. Grand Theft Auto VI is poised to release sometime in 2025, so now is the perfect time to revisit the last GTA title to better understand the high bar GTA 6 and every other future release from Rockstar Games will need to live up to.

Read more
Grand Theft Auto Trilogy developer is not happy about this change in latest update
Carl Johnson in a green shirt walking away from a car on a bridge. He's holding a gun.

The poorly received Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy -- The Definitive Edition got a surprise and much-needed update earlier this week, but not everybody is happy with the results. After the update went live on PC and consoles, fans noticed quickly that Grove Street Games, the studio that developed Definitive Edition with Rockstar Games, had been removed from the splash screen ahead of the start menu. Now Grove Street CEO Thomas Williamson has spoken out on X about the situation.

"Speaking entire hypothetically: It's a [jerk] move to remove primary developers from credits in an update, especially when an update includes hundreds of fixes that were provided by those developers that stayed out of players' hands for years," Williamson wrote.

Read more
Play these 3 PS Plus games this weekend before they leave (November 15-17)
Key art for Red Dead Redemption 2.

A new batch of games will be added to the PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra game catalogs next week, but many notable games will also leave Sony's gaming subscription service before that happens. Fans of Rockstar Games in particular will be disappointed as two of the studio's games are leaving PS Plus Extra's catalog ahead of 2025, which will potentially see the launch of Grand Theft Auto VI. If you own a PS5, aren't picking up Lego Horizon Adventures, and are wondering what you should be playing this weekend, consider checking out any of these games leaving PS Plus.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2 Launch Trailer

Rockstar's most recent game as of 2024, Red Dead Redemption 2, is an excellent open-world western. A prequel to the original Red Dead Redemption, it follows Arthur Morgan, who's part of Dutch van der Linde's gang alongside John Marston, as the sun sets on the Wild West and their gang slowly falls apart due to infighting, death, and questionable decisions from leaders like Dutch. It's an amazing story emboldened by a vast open world with a stunning amount of attention to even the smallest details. It's worth a revisit if you need to remind yourself why Rockstar is considered one of the best developers in the game industry and why you should truly be excited for GTA 6. If you don't own it, you don't have much time left to get that refresher for free.

Read more