Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is a 2009 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar Leeds in conjunction with Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. The game was released for the Nintendo DS in March 2009, PlayStation Portable in October 2009,^[9] iOS in January 2010,^[5][6] and Android and Fire OS devices in December 2014.^[7] It is the thirteenth game in the Grand Theft Auto series and a follow-up to Grand Theft Auto IV, and is the first instalment to be released for handheld consoles since 2006’s Vice City Stories. Set within modern-day Liberty City (a fictional satire of New York City), the single-player story follows young Triad member Huang Lee and his efforts to recover a sword gifted by his late father after it is stolen from him, while inadvertently becoming caught in a power struggle amongst Liberty City’s Triads.

The game was fundamentally designed for players to have notable interactions with objects on the DS and smartphone systems via their touch-screen controls, while offering unique elements of gameplay not found in other entries within the Grand Theft Auto series. The most notable element, the ability to buy drugs from suppliers and sell them to dealers to make money, proved controversial following the game’s release. Despite this, the game received critical acclaim.