GTA 3 originally launched in 2001 and changed open-world games as we know them. Thanks to a team of dedicated modders, you can now play it on a modified Sega Dreamcast. I really don’t know why you’d choose to do this, but hey, you can.
The project is called DCA 3, and I’m not proud of how long it took me to realize that it stands for Dreamcast Auto 3. It’s a clever title and an alpha build is available for you to play right now – find out how to install it here. The whole thing is too technical for me, but the sparknotes are you’ll need a legitimate PC copy of GTA 3 as well as a Dreamcast that can run modified discs.
A video shared to Twitter shows off the project, and while it doesn’t look perfect, it’s pretty damn good. Some of the team behind the port spoke to Dreamcast Junkyard to explain the process.
SURPRISE SURPRISE! The alpha release of Grand Theft Auto 3 running on the Sega #Dreamcast (DCA3) is here! Here is an actual hardware capture I took from my DC while doing some physics engine optimization work.Over the last several months, a rag-tag team of indie DC developers… pic.twitter.com/IKbbi1cloMDecember 30, 2024
“DCA 3 has demonstrated the capability the Dreamcast has to bring together people from different countries and cultures, collaborating on something that once seemed impossible,” says NaiSan. “It has also highlighted how our community is filled with talent and creativity. The Dreamcast may not have been the most commercially successful console, but it is undoubtedly the one that has brought together the most incredible and special people worldwide.”
The whole thing started when skmp “accidently came across the re3 source code (i.e. the reverse engineered code for the PC version of GTA3) and I immediately thought, ‘why couldn’t this work on the Dreamcast?’ If I recall correctly it was July 2024.” So, in barely 5 months they’ve managed to make a playable alpha port of the game, impressive.
A former Rockstar developer took notice of the project back in September. Obbe Vermeij explains: “The first months of development of GTA 3 (back in 99/00) were done on the Dreamcast. For commercial reasons we switched to PS2. At the time we did think it was technically possible to pull it off on the DC and these guys are actually doing it. Nice one.”
You should check DCA 3 out for yourself, and after you have, take a look at everything we know about GTA 6.
