What has at times been described as an “unnecessarily absurd marketing stunt” can, at least based on the official numbers, be considered a huge success: The in-depth look at GTA VI took Netflix by storm in just four days.
Rockstar’s somewhat unorthodox deal didn’t spark jubilation everywhere: Maurice Weber, a longtime GameStar editor and content creator, for example, called it an “unnecessarily absurd marketing stunt.” The first in-depth look at GTA VI premiered exclusively on Netflix on the evening of August 27—and didn’t appear on YouTube until six hours later. The official numbers tell a story of success.
In the global Netflix rankings for the week of August 24–30, “Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look” took first place among movies. This was also the case in 87 of the 93 tracked countries—including Germany. The streaming service reported 31.1 million views. However, Netflix calculates this statistic differently than, for example, YouTube or similar platforms. These are not mere clicks.
Most views—not the most total time
The views are calculated by dividing the total number of hours watched by the length of the film. In the case of GTA VI: 14 million hours were streamed worldwide, and the runtime is 27 minutes—or 0.45 hours. 14 million divided by 0.45 equals approximately 31.1 million.
This is certainly worth mentioning, because: “The Whisper Man,” in second place, has more total viewing hours (44.1 million). However, the feature film starring Robert De Niro also runs 114 minutes. That’s why Netflix ultimately recorded “only” 23.2 million views for that week.
Just over 20 million YouTube views
On YouTube, the GTA VI preview—released six hours later—has now reached 20.3 million views—fewer than on Netflix. However, the metrics can’t really be compared effectively anyway. Additionally, the extended-length trailer wasn’t uploaded exclusively by Rockstar.
Nevertheless, it’s worth noting that, based on the numbers, the Netflix deal can be considered a success. Even without accounting for its very short runtime by movie standards, GTA VI racked up the second-highest total viewing hours after “The Whisper Man.” Although the extended preview was only available on four of the seven days tracked—and the release coincided with gamescom 2026 in Cologne, which was really picking up steam.
Netflix hasn’t always had good experiences with video games recently. The FIFA game for the 2026 World Cup turned into a major embarrassment for everyone involved. It can’t have been all that successful either: Two weeks after the World Cup final, the developer laid off 85 percent of its staff.
