Last week Rockstar announced a major delay to Grand Theft Auto 6, and earlier this week softened the blow by releasing the game’s second trailer. It’s an incredible spectacle that shows a game more ambitious than anything I’ve seen before and packed with detail. The real stars are all the wildlife (and beer bottles).
Rockstar now says that this trailer is the biggest video launch of all time, which is a rather fluffy phrase but it offers some impressive stats to back it up. Since the trailer was released on Tuesday it has received over 475 million views across all platforms, a number that’s now doubtless even higher. The YouTube version alone is currently sitting at just under 95 million views.
The game’s first trailer, released in 2023, saw 93 million views over the same time period after release, though that one for whatever reason was also a YouTube exclusive (and broke viewership records, even if it couldn’t quite outperform BTS).
The Hollywood Reporter compares the 475 million number to some major movie releases: Deadpool & Wolverine’s trailer got 365 million views in its first day, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps had more than 200 million.
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One more stat. The trailer features several tracks but the main song is Hot Together by The Pointer Sisters, something of a deep cut from a band best-known for tracks like I’m So Excited, and Spotify says streams of this song subsequently increased by *checks notes* 182,000%.
“Grand Theft Auto cuts through popular culture like almost nothing else,” said Spotify’s Sulinna Ong. “Music has been synonymous with the series since the very beginning, so it’s great to see fans both new and established connecting with an iconic track in this way.”
GTA 6 is now due for release on May 26, 2026, though when we’ll see it on PC is anyone’s guess: the same year would be lovely, but Rockstar’s past form suggests a 2027 release wouldn’t be out of the question (or even god forbid 2028).
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