At the Yellow Jack Inn, there are bloody footsteps around the 8 ball pool table in the back. This is a possible reference to the serial killer Merle Abrahams and his obsession with the number '8'.

The title of the mission 'Pack Man' is a reference to the game Pac-Man.

In the mission "Derailed", the player must jump a dirtbike off a ramp and land on top of a train. One of the gold medal objectives, titled "Better than CJ", requires the player to make the jump using the first of several ramps.

This objective is a reference to the mission "Wrong Side of the Tracks" in GTA: San Andreas, where Carl Johnson (CJ), must chase a train on a dirtbike. One way of beating the mission is to drive up a series of ramps, and jump onto the train. The mission is notoriously difficult, and Big Smoke's line upon failing it became an internet meme: "All we had to do, was follow the damn train, CJ!"

In an interview with Playboy Magazine, Sam Houser admitted that he got his mother, veteran actress Geraldine Moffat, to do some voice and mo-cap work for Grand Theft Auto V. While she is uncredited in the game, it is widely believed by many that she played Trevor Phillips' mother. They look similar, her actress is not credited, and she has an uncharacteristically English accent for a woman who is supposed to be Canadian.

Trevor Phillips' starting vehicle in the game is a "Canis Bodhi" pickup truck. Steven Ogg, Trevor's voice actor, has a son named Bodhi. It's believed the vehicle is named after his son.

In the mission "Fresh Meat", the opening cutscene was almost entirely improvised by the two main actors (Steven Ogg as Trevor and Shawn Fonteno as Franklin). During motion-capture, Ogg tripped over an obstacle and Fonteno broke out laughing. Upon standing up, Ogg started to yell at Fonteno (in character) and the scene was kept in-game.

The mission "The Ballad of Rocco" is a reference to "The Ballad of Gay Tony", where Rocco makes his first canonical appearance.

During The Paleto Score, if Spoiler:Packie McReary is brought along as a heist gunman, he begins to talk about a robbery in Liberty City:


This refers to the events of the mission Spoiler:Three Leaf Clover in Grand Theft Auto IV.

A book case in the living room of Franklin's Vinewood house contains a book called "Red Dead", by J. Marston. This is a reference to Red Dead Redemption, and its protagonist, John Marston.

John Marston from Red Dead Redemption is one of the possible "Special Dads" available during character creation for Grand Theft Auto Online. This will only display if the user has a save file from that game, and can be used to influence the appearance of their GTA Online character.

There are a couple of locations in Los Santos that feature Marilyn Monroe, Charles Chaplin, John Wayne and Elvis Presley. One is near board walk and the other is in a back alley.

All of the characters' special abilities (Michael's marksman abilities, Trevor's rage ability, and Franklin's handling of cars) are displayed by the game's interface. However, Franklin's special ability is the only one to be referred to by the characters themselves; This is done by Lamar during the mission Chop, in which he tells Franklin to use that "special driver thing that he does" to capture D.

The in-game German beer company, "Pißwasser", is a joke nickname for Budweiser in Germany. The name translates to "piss water".

There is a car tuning garage close to the Vanilla Unicorn called "Car Tune Network", a reference to the TV station Cartoon Network.

On Michael's Spoiler:tombstone in North Yankton it states that he was born in 1965 (making him 48 in 2013). However Trevor, Lester, and his son Jimmy all state that he is 45 years old (meaning he was born in 1968). Therefore his exact age is unclear.

In the Japanese release, a number of scenes had been edited, despite the game being given a "Z" rating (the highest available). Changes include Trevor Phillips' pants staying on when they're supposed to be down, the teen idol sex scene changed to her just smoking, and the torture gameplay in the mission "By the Book" skipped entirely.

There are three UFOs in the game. Two of these UFOs mysteriously have the FIB logo on them.

Denise originally had a different appearance which can be seen in Franklin's character trailer. Her original appearance had her with a different hairstyle, glasses and a green hoodie representing the Families.

During the first encounter between Trevor and Nigel, Nigel and Mrs. Thornhill start groveling at Trevor's feet, repeating "we're not worthy" after they mistake him for a famous actor. This is likely to be a reference to the film "Wayne's World", in which Wayne and Garth bow down and exclaim "we're not worthy" to celebrities that they admire.

Spoiler:Packie McReary from Grand Theft Auto IV can be found holding somebody up outside a store, requesting the player helps him make a getaway. During the journey, he will recount several events that occur during the duration of Grand Theft Auto IV.