$VICE/GTA VI

In case you lost your internet connection or something, and didn’t already hear, Rockstar officially announced details on when we will get an extended look at Grand Theft Auto this morning. That sounds a lot like we are in for some actual gameplay for the biggest game in gaming…finally, but this is not just another trailer drop folks. This morning we effectively got a trailer for a trailer you’ll need a paid subscription to watch, sort of. 

Now this is Grand Theft Auto 6, and it can more or less write its own rules on, well, just about everything. But who would have thought you would actually need a paid Netflix subscription to watch the first gameplay reveal? I certainly didn’t. 

This morning Rockstar and Netflix announced a special partnership, one that would see what the outfits are referring to as an “extended look” at GTA 6 land on a paid streaming platform several hours before it is available for FREE online. 

• Grand Theft Auto 6 pre-orders are now live at Amazon on PS5 and Xbox.
• Grand Theft Auto 6 pre-orders are now live at Best Buy on PS5 and Xbox.
• Grand Theft Auto 6 pre-orders are now live at Walmart on PS5 and Xbox.
• Grand Theft Auto 6 pre-orders are now live at GameStop on PS5 or Xbox.

What that “extended look” actually is we can’t say for sure, but it absolutely has to include actual gameplay and a proper deep dive on the game to some degree, doesn’t it? 

Netflix describes the livestream event as a first-of-its-kind partnership and Rockstar didn’t say much other than come watch our new thing on Netflix later this month if you don’t want to wait six hours longer to stream it on YouTube.

You don’t have to pay for a Netflix subscription to see this thing, and millions of folks already have one of those anyway, but after waiting 13 years for a new Grand Theft Auto game, countless delays, and nearly a year since the last trailer, something about this feels about as exciting as it does annoying to me, and I have a Netflix subscription.

The Grand Theft Auto VI “Extended Look” goes live on August 27 at 3 p.m. ET for paid subscribers, and for FREE on YouTube six hours later after everyone has ruined it for you at 9 p.m ET.

The upside here, Netflix must have paid a fortune for this exclusivity in some way or other, and you would think that whatever this extended look is would have to be at least a little bit more substantial than “Grand Theft Auto VI: Trailer #3” for it to get the ol’ checkbook out. 

At this point just about anything more than a few minutes of new footage from the game almost breaks the internet, and fans will take anything they can get, but this whole Netflix situation suggests we might even get a lengthy presentation on the game with not only gameplay, but also a full developer deep dive, and maybe even more than that.