31.1 million views. That is what Netflix reported for “Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look” in its first four days, enough to make a video game preview the streamer’s most-watched title of the week.
Netflix premiered the special on Thursday, August 27, starting at 3 p.m. Eastern, and counted views through Sunday, August 30, the close of its weekly Top 10 window. Its exclusivity lasted six hours. Rockstar Games then posted the same footage to YouTube at 9 p.m. ET. Variety reported that the 27-minute film took the top spot on the English-language film list, and it took first place in 87 of 93 tracked countries. “The Whisper Man” was a distant second with 23.2 million views.
Two ways of counting
YouTube’s tally is lower, but the two numbers are not alike. Netflix divides total hours watched by runtime, so a household that plays the special twice counts once. YouTube registers a view the moment a video starts, including partial plays and repeats. By the time of the Variety report, Rockstar’s upload had passed 17 million views. Engadget put it at over 17.7 million on September 2, and PCMag cited 17.4 million.
Brandon Riegg, Netflix’s VP of Nonfiction Series, called the event “a reflection of what we hope Netflix is becoming: a place where the most ambitious storytelling, from any medium, can find the biggest possible audience.” Netflix did not disclose what it paid Rockstar.
What was on screen
The footage was captured entirely in-game on PlayStation 5. It follows protagonists Jason and Lucia through the fictional Vice City, with cinematic scenes, gameplay, combat changes and side activities. Engadget reported that the main story could take 80 hours or more. It is the longest look fans have had at the game after two trailers over the past three years. The game arrives November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Did it move pre-orders?
Market research firm M Science estimated a “couple hundred thousand units, globally” in the first few days after the Netflix debut. It added a caution: by its estimate the game had likely sold 4 million units before the special, had been open for pre-purchase for about nine weeks, and sat about 12 weeks out from launch. For scale, Grand Theft Auto V, launched in 2013, has moved over 230 million units.
Sources
- GTA VI extended look got 31 million views on Netflix despite six-hour exclusivity window (Engadget)
- GTA 6 Extended Look Tops Netflix Charts With 31.1 Million Views in Four Days (Variety)
- Netflix's GTA 6 Extended Look Trailer Got 31 Million Views, Beating YouTube (PCMag)
