GTA VI extended look fuels pre-orders, raises new questions

GTA VI’s 26-minute Netflix extended look has intensified excitement around the game, with engagement and pre-orders reportedly surging. While Cyberleek’s leaks appear to have lost their impact, questions remain over GTA VI’s performance and the packed gaming release schedule ahead.

GTA VI X Netflix – the timed collab: The GTA VI extended look was 26 minutes and 48 seconds long. For those of you who were able to watch it at premiere time on Netflix at 12:30 AM on August 28th, you weren’t alone. Millions around the world tuned in simultaneously, sending servers crashing in some regions.

As most of us watched Jason and Lucia help raise mayhem in Vice City and the state of Leonida (Rockstar’s spoof of Florida), market intelligence firm Sensor Tower documented significant engagement. In the US alone, the GTA VI content provided enough reason to see a 50 per cent surge in Thursday viewership on Netflix through mobile devices, as well as a 125 per cent increase in website traffic.

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The impact of the Netflix collaboration can only be truly measured in the number of pre-orders for the game. Prior to the event, it had already sold over 4.5 million copies, with over 90 per cent of those pre-orders accounting for the more expensive Ultimate Edition. Early estimates post-exclusive screening indicate a significant surge in pre-orders, though an exact number should be harder to estimate immediately.

Too perfect a picture?

The sheer number of pre-orders is setting a dangerous trend. Players around the world are choosing spectacle over the quality of gameplay. We all hope and expect that GTA VI will be a great, polished experience on launch day.

Questions around frame rate and performance on the base PS5 will continue to persist. From dense crowds to rich landscapes, the console seems almost certain to struggle with what the game demands. An event like the extended look glosses over these potential shortcomings. Instead, it presents a rosy picture that may not be representative of day one. We saw this happen before with Cyberpunk 2077, yet once again, we have collectively thrown caution to the wind.

Cyberleek cashes out

Amidst the Netflix fanfare and 26 minutes of end-to-end action, most of us got a glimpse of the game like never before.

Consequently, Cyberleek’s leaks have now become redundant. The mysterious hacker group has suddenly gone silent, and its crypto meme currency lies forgotten. Crypto experts believe the whole stunt allowed the group to generate roughly $250,000, as their accounts abruptly went inactive after Wednesday.

As we enter the final stretch toward the game’s November launch, fans have seen enough for the pre-orders to keep rolling in.

The busiest of Septembers?

As we draw to the end of August, we are gearing up for one of the busiest Septembers in memory. Most major releases have chosen this window to avoid colliding with GTA VI. We begin with The Blood of Dawnwalker—an open-world vampire experience from former Witcher 3 developers that looks fantastic. For sword-combat enthusiasts, Onimusha: Way of the Sword arrives on the 4th.

Sony brings out its Marvel-exclusive Wolverine on September 15th, followed by Control Resonant on the 24th from the creators of Alan Wake. Football fans get FC27 on the 27th, while the Switch 2 receives a new Fire Emblem entry on the 17th.