In 1996, the entire state of San Andreas was going through major changes. A 35-year-old man named Preston Hughes had been a prominent member of the Red Kings gang in the slums of Cottonmouth during his youth, but a failed bank robbery made him spend the last 12 years behind bars. After his release, he moved to San Fierro following the Red Kings' decline. Once on the west coast, Preston gets caught in a web of betrayals and conspiracies while warring gangs fight each other for the control of the city.