Because Grand Theft Auto is a cultural pillar. The series evolved from a crude 2D game to a sophisticated simulation of American life. If we lose access to the starting point, we lose the ability to appreciate that evolution.
Unpatched versions of the games as they appeared on physical discs. gta internet archive
The (part of Internet Archive) has crawled thousands of GTA fan sites from 1998–2010, including: Because Grand Theft Auto is a cultural pillar
However, official websites change, servers go down, and links rot. Today, if you search for these files on Rockstar’s official site, you might find broken links or redirects to the GTA Trilogy store pages. Unpatched versions of the games as they appeared
The legal landscape of archiving GTA is complex. While downloading a game you don't own is technically piracy, the Internet Archive operates under certain library exemptions in the U.S. that allow for the preservation of software.