GTA 6 marketing is now rolling out in full force ahead of the game’s November launch, which some might question the necessity of for what’s easily one of the most highly anticipated games of all time. But Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick says it’s not just about building awareness – it’s about building hype.
When GTA 6: An Extended Look arrived on Netflix last month, it racked up a whopping 31.1 million views on that platform alone in its first four days. At the time of writing, it has also accumulated 27 million views on YouTube since its publication. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that that’s a lot of views, but how many of those do you think were from people who were newly introduced to the concept of GTA 6 with that showcase? We can safely assume that a massive amount were already well aware of the game when they watched it, but that doesn’t make the marketing a waste of time.
As Zelnick says in a chat at GameBeat’s Insider event, this is a concern that investors have raised before, too. “Well, obviously everyone’s heard of Grand Theft Auto 6. So why are you wasting money on marketing? Shouldn’t you just put it out there? That is the question,” he recalls being asked. However, he explains: “I think in launching broad-based entertainment properties, you don’t have a choice. You always have to go out and create enthusiasm. So, awareness is one thing; enthusiasm is another thing.”
Zelnick looks back on his time working in the movie business, during which time he found that “if the thing is no good, you can market the living shit out of it, and people will still not notice the marketing.” Beyond that, “If the marketing’s terrible, you can turn people off, and if the marketing’s great, you can create more excitement.”
He reiterates: “The whole goal that we always have, whether it’s this upcoming launch or any other title, is to take awareness and turn it into excitement, and take the lack of awareness and turn it into awareness.”
Would GTA 6 have done well if Rockstar had gone completely silent after its first trailer and then randomly shadowdropped the full game at some point? Of course – it’d also set the internet on fire in the process. But working on fans over time, rolling out new screenshots, footage, and information via interviews – it’s like shaking a cola bottle vigorously before finally taking the cap off. Even for fans who’ve been planning to buy the game from the start, the marketing spurs conversation online, potentially helping convince those who weren’t already sold, too.
It’s safe to say that Rockstar and Take-Two know what they’re doing, anyway – it’ll be interesting to see just how many copies of GTA 6 are sold at launch after all this.