Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was released by Rockstar Games in 2004 and became one of the best known open world games of its era, following Carl Johnson across the fictional state of San Andreas. Its loading screens were a routine part of long play sessions, so their music became deeply familiar to millions of players. As gameplay clips, mods and nostalgia edits spread on video platforms, that loading audio turned into shorthand for the game itself, reused whenever creators wanted an instantly recognisable pause from the PlayStation 2 era.