Later today, Netflix will stream a live event with Rockstar and Take-Two Interactive, the developer and publisher of the highly anticipated video game Grand Theft Auto VI. Called Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look, it’s the third official trailer for the game, which releases on November 19.
But unlike the two trailers before, this extended look will debut exclusively on Netflix, then be disseminated six hours later across other social platforms like YouTube. (Let’s be honest, people will rip the feed immediately and post it online.) Subscribers can watch the stream live on Netflix, starting August 27 at 3 pm Eastern (noon Pacific). WIRED will also have a roundup of the event’s big takeaways.
This collaborative stunt follows a week of hacker leaks and gamer consternation on Rockstar’s decision not to ship the game with physical discs. The hackers initially said the leaks, which revealed GTA VI gameplay and story spoilers, were attempts to convince Rockstar to include physical discs. But the hackers quickly pivoted to collecting cryptocurrency in exchange for more leaks. Rockstar shared a statement on X saying the leaks had been “heartbreaking” for the team. It also wrote that the company is “excited for everyone to see the extended look.”
This marketing extravaganza is an unusual collaboration. Isn’t GTA VI big enough for Rockstar to market it on its own? Also, why Netflix? The streaming giant hasn’t nailed its attempts at incorporating gaming into its platform. The company introduced gaming in 2021 with big titles like GTA San Andreas on mobile, but they never really took off, as users didn’t play them. Netflix has wound down its focus on AAA games and recently shuttered two of its studios. While the platform might struggle to be a viable traditional gaming platform, it still wants in on that industry.
It’s not clear which company is paying for the privilege—either Netflix is paying Take-Two for the exclusive, or Take-Two is paying Netflix for access to the 325 million subscribers that use its service. Either way, Joost van Dreunen, a professor at NYU Stern School of Business who teaches about the business of video games and authors the blog Super Joost, says it’s a good move for both companies.
“Netflix is a distribution hub that can reach a massive audience; that’s where they have incredible potential,” van Dreunen tells WIRED. “That’s a big shift in how large tech companies and streaming video can work together with game makers.”
It’s a smart move for Take-Two and Rockstar. GTA VI is an absolute behemoth, 13 years in the making and on just about every gamer’s radar. The game’s drawn-out release time has become a meme, after all. But just because it’s bound to sell extremely well doesn’t mean that everyone is aware of it. Netflix, in that case, has the opportunity to leverage its vast customer audience, many of whom might not be gamers already in the know.
“Netflix can be both a driver of growth by offering publishers a broader audience than the console manufacturers can,” van Dreunen says. “They can normalize or familiarize a nontraditional gaming audience with upcoming releases. They become a marketing tool.”
For a long time, retail has primarily driven game sales. But physical media is slipping away. Rockstar may not be putting a disc in the box at launch, but Sony has outright said it no longer plans to make physical copies of its games. Marketing a game has long been the responsibility of the studio and the platform it’s released on. But large tech companies like Netflix and Amazon, with shows based on games such as The Witcher and Fallout, have proven themselves to be very effective with this kind of marketing on the gaming front.
Netflix in particular seems keen to nail down its approach to gaming. What better way of kicking that off than by hosting what may be the biggest game ever?
“This is a really good symbiosis for them,” van Dreunen says. “And it works particularly well for blockbusters.”
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