Report updated May 7, 2026
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
For fans of the Grand Theft Auto franchise and open-world action games seeking a mobile-optimized version of the classic title.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is an established games app that is a paid app. With a 4.7/5 rating from 112.2K reviews, it shows polarized user reception. Users particularly appreciate nostalgic gameplay loop provides high entertainment value for long-term fans of the franchise, though frequent application crashes during loading screens or mission sequences disrupt the play experience remains a common concern.
What is Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas?
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a premium open-world action game for iOS, featuring a 70-hour narrative campaign.
Users hire this title for a complete, high-fidelity single-player experience that avoids the aggressive monetization and live-service grind of modern mobile crime simulators.
Current Momentum
v2.2 · 11mo ago
Zombie- Ships general fixes and improvements.
- Maintains premium single-purchase model.
Active Nemesis
Gangstar Vegas: World of Crime
By Gameloft SE
Other Rivals
7-Day Rank Pulse 🇺🇸
GamesRating Pulse 🇺🇸
Recent User Mood
What makes this app unique?
What Does It Look Like?
What Are The Key Features?
High-resolution assets, lighting enhancements, and improved character models built for mobile hardware
Native integration for Made for iOS controllers to replace touch-based inputs
Cross-device progress synchronization for Rockstar Social Club members
How much does it cost?
- Single purchase at $6.99
Fixed-price premium model anchored at $6.99, targeting legacy franchise fans without recurring subscription requirements.
Who Built It?
Rockstar Games
Delivering high-fidelity, console-quality open-world experiences to mobile devices. Providing long-time fans with premium access to classic franchise titles.
Portfolio
13
Apps
What other apps does Rockstar Games make?
GTA: Liberty City Stories
Bully: Anniversary Edition
GTA: Vice City – Definitive
GTA: San Andreas – Definitive
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Max Payne Mobile
Explore the full Rockstar Games report
Portfolio breakdown, audience, momentum, and every app published by Rockstar Games.
What do users think recently?
High confidence · 92 reviews analyzed · Based on 92 reviews. Signal may be noisy.
How did the latest release land?
What is the recent mood?
Recent user voice shows a mixed sentiment. Users appreciate nostalgic gameplay loop provides high entertainment value for long-term fans of the franchise, but report frequent application crashes during loading screens or mission sequences disrupt the play experience.
What Users Love
What Frustrates Users
What Users Want
View the full user-sentiment analysis
Mood gauge, ratings & review-volume history, every praise / complaint / request, and sentiment over time.
What is the competitive landscape for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas?
How's The Games Market?
How does it evolve in the Games market?
The app holds the #3 Paid position in its category and #22 Paid overall in the US. The gap between its premium price and the free-to-play dominance of rivals signals a reliance on brand loyalty over market-wide acquisition.
Rank progression
514 active rankings tracked — 30-day window
The rivals identified
Nemeses(1)
This is the only direct open-world crime simulator in the pool that matches the scale, thematic depth, and long-term live service commitment of the target app.
Differentiators
- Operates as a live-service platform with recurring seasonal events that maintain high player retention
- Features a massive, continuously expanded map that dwarfs the static environment of the target app
- Monetization model relies on aggressive IAP and ad-integration, contrasting with the target's premium upfront pricing
Head to head
The target app must lean into its premium, narrative-focused brand identity to differentiate from the grind-heavy, live-service loop of this nemesis.
Contenders(3)
Focuses heavily on the vehicular combat aspect of the open-world genre with high update velocity.
Differentiators
- Integrates high-intensity vehicular combat as the primary gameplay driver rather than a secondary mechanic
- Maintains a high release cadence, shipping frequent vehicle and map expansions to keep the meta fresh
A secondary open-world title from the same developer as the nemesis, focusing on territory control mechanics.
Differentiators
- Features territory-based conquest mechanics that provide a strategic layer absent in the target app
- Utilizes a card-based progression system for character upgrades, shifting focus toward collection and optimization
A strong alternative focusing on high-octane, mission-based open-world chaos rather than narrative depth.
Differentiators
- Prioritizes rapid-fire, mission-based gameplay loops over the target's slower, story-driven pacing
- Includes a robust custom game mode creator that allows users to define their own match rules
Same space(2)
Offers a stylized, low-poly take on the open-world crime genre, appealing to a younger, more casual demographic.
Differentiators
- Employs a distinct low-poly art style that reduces hardware requirements and broadens device compatibility
- Prioritizes sandbox-style emergent gameplay and humor over the target's gritty, realistic crime narrative
Adjacent sub-genre focusing purely on the driving physics and sandbox exploration of the open-world experience.
Differentiators
- Focuses exclusively on realistic vehicle physics and stunt-based exploration within an open sandbox environment
- Removes all narrative and combat elements to provide a pure, low-friction driving experience
New entrants(1)
A recent entrant attempting to capture the open-world crime market with a rapid release cycle.
Differentiators
- Aggressively targets the 'crime simulator' search intent with high-frequency, low-effort content updates
- Leverages simplified mobile-first controls to lower the barrier to entry for casual players
Compare Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas against every rival
All rivals in one side-by-side table — identity, store metrics, ratings & sentiment, and strategic intel — plus a head-to-head page for each.
The outtake for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Strengths to defend, gaps to attack
Core Strengths
- Brand authority sustains organic install velocity
- High-fidelity assets maintain premium market position
Critical Frictions
- Frequent crashes during mission transitions
- No manual save management
- Lack of cheat code support
Growth Levers
- Implement granular graphics settings
- Add cheat code interface for sandbox play
Market Threats
- Live-service rivals siphoning player attention
- Aging codebase stability issues
- Aggressive F2P crime simulator entrants
What are the next best moves?
Audit crash logs during mission transitions because high-frequency crashes are the #1 complaint → reduce churn
Sentiment analysis identifies crashes during loading/missions as the primary driver of negative reviews.
Trade-off: Pause the planned UI refresh for the settings menu — stability is a higher retention lever.
Ship manual save file management because it is a top-requested legacy feature → restore player trust
User reviews explicitly flag the absence of manual saves as a regression from the original version.
Trade-off: Deprioritize the custom radio station expansion — save management is a higher-impact retention fix.
A counter-intuitive read
The app's #3 category rank is a liability: maintenance-mode at the top is more vulnerable to a single live-ops rival than a lower-ranked app with active growth.
Feature Gaps vs Competitors
- Live-service seasonal events (available in Gangstar Vegas but missing here)
- Territory-based conquest mechanics (available in Gangstar New Orleans but missing here)
Key Takeaways
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas maintains its market lead through brand equity, but the aging codebase and lack of stability threaten long-term retention, so the PM must prioritize engine stability over new feature development.
Where Is It Heading?
Declining
The open-world crime genre is consolidating around live-service models that prioritize recurring engagement. San Andreas remains exposed because its static, premium-priced structure cannot compete with the content velocity of modern rivals, so revenue growth will likely continue to soften without a shift toward live-ops.
Frequent application crashes during mission sequences erode the daily active habit, which compounds the rating drag already visible on the platform.
Recent updates focused on stability, no feature expansion, signaling the title is currently in a maintenance-mode lifecycle.