GTA 6 Pre-Orders Have Blown Expectations as Take-Two Teases a “Must-See Event”

GTA 6 is probably the one game that is so anticipated that the entire rest of the industry decided to completely avoid releasing their games anywhere near it. And not only that, but it continues to generate an absurd amount of hype and crazy rumors. And now, according to new comments from Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick, the game’s pre-orders are already performing far beyond the company’s expectations.

Jason Schreier shared a few new details, including the fact that GTA 6’s pre-orders have “vastly surpassed Take-Two’s internal forecasts”. We could not get our hands on specific numbers, but it is easy to believe that people jumped on pre-orders as soon as they could. Nothing surprising given the game’s huge popularity. It gives us a good indication of just how much demand Take-Two is expecting when GTA 6 finally launches on November 19. On top of that, it also seems like he made some comments about the first extended look at the game being exclusive to Netflix.

GTA 6’s Extended Look Will Be a “Must-See Event”

Schreier also discussed the upcoming GTA 6: An Extended Look that is scheduled to premiere on August 27 on Netflix. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told him that the presentation will be much more substantial than a normal trailer. It is supposed to provide a “meaty” look at the actual gameplay, and Zelnick even described it as a “must-see event.” Zelnick was also asked why Take-Two chose Netflix as the platform for the premiere. He simply said that people will understand why they chose Netflix for the premiere once the event goes live. And when Schreier asked if it will feel like watching a Netflix show, Zelnick simply answered: “Yes.”

That means Rockstar and Take-Two may have something really big planned for this event, and not just a simple trailer with a few gameplay bits here and there. A lot of players now think that we can expect stuff like:

• New extended trailer
• Multiple hours of gameplay
• A live-action short movie that shows what happens before the game’s story begins, so before we pick up Lucia from prison
• Interviews with the developers or a sort of behind-the-scenes thing

It will definitely be much bigger than anything else you have seen so far, otherwise, why put it on Netflix? The issue is that now, players are indeed expecting something huge, so if Rockstar does not live up to it, it will be a big disappointment for many.

Aiming Beyond the Gaming Audience

The decision to premiere the extended look on Netflix also seems to be part of a new marketing strategy. Zelnick said that the goal is to reach people who may already know GTA 6 exists but are not necessarily following the game closely or planning to buy it at launch, or people who just do not know about it at all, and might get interested by seeing the extended look. Netflix is the one platform that gives Take-Two access to a much larger audience than traditional gaming platforms alone. If you do not know GTA 6, you are not going to look it up on YouTube. But if it suddenly shows up on your front page on Netflix, you might be interested in watching it, and maybe after you will want to play it.

One thing is sure. Take-Two does not appear particularly concerned about the game’s potential install base limiting sales. Zelnick pointed out that by launch, the console install base should be roughly comparable to the one GTA 5 had when it originally released. With pre-orders already beating internal expectations, Take-Two clearly is not seeing a lack of demand as a problem. And there may be even more planned for launch day. When Schreier asked Zelnick if he had anything special planned for November 19, such as a celebration, the Take-Two CEO replied that it is “ultra top secret” for now, but that he would be happy to talk about it at some point before launch.

For now, the next big GTA 6 event is August 27, when Rockstar will finally show us what this game is all about. And after months of almost complete silence, it sounds like Rockstar might have quite a bit to show.

---

For more information about GTA 6, check out our latest news!