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- Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look premieres on Netflix six hours before its public release through Rockstar.
- Australians can watch it on Netflix at 5am AEST on Friday, 28 August, or wait until 11am for the free YouTube release.
- Rockstar has not confirmed whether the presentation will include gameplay.
Rockstar has found another side mission for Grand Theft Auto VI fans to complete, giving Netflix subscribers a six-hour head start on the game’s first extended presentation.
Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look will premiere on Netflix at 5am AEST on Friday, 28 August, before arriving on Rockstar’s official YouTube channel and GTA 6 website at 11am that same morning. So, this whole blow-up about needing Netflix to watch it at all is a bit of a nothingburger.
Some of us will be setting our alarms for the early scoop, but whether it’s waiting six hours or coughing up a tenner, following the most anticipated video game in the world is starting to come with a bit of fine print.
Australian players may potentially have to prove they’re old enough to even play the game, while Sony is boldly claiming GTA 6 will “play best on PS5”. With Netflix now deciding who sees Rockstar’s next major reveal first, I have to wonder what other surprises Rockstar has in store before November.
What Is This GTA VI: An Extended Look All About?
Netflix has kept the details pretty thin, presenting the whole thing as part of a “first-of-its-kind partnership” with Rockstar Games. However, neither company has said what any of that means beyond this one event, or what the extended look will actually contain.
The title suggests something more substantial than just another trailer, with online pundits predicting footage 20 – 30 minutes in length, particularly with GTA 6 only a few months away. So there better be some gameplay, right? RIGHT?! Well, even though this seems like the ideal opportunity for the game’s first proper gameplay showcase, Rockstar has promised nothing.
Netflix is also light on details, with the press release promising subscribers an opportunity “to see more” of the game, like it’s some kind of call to action on a website template. What we actually want to see is uninterrupted gameplay. Not another heavily edited look at Jason, Lucia and the state of Leonida.
We get it, Vice City is back. Show us what the game looks like, please.
Why Is GTA 6 Premiering on Netflix?
Netflix’s Brandon Riegg said GTA reveals had become “cultural moments in their own right”, arguing that the partnership reflects the streaming service’s ambition to host major storytelling from any medium.
Netflix has already hosted MMA and boxing from Jake Paul’s MVP to pull big audiences into the platform, so it knows the kind of drawing power Rockstar has well beyond gaming. And now it’s made itself the exclusive destination for GTA 6‘s next major reveal. For six hours, anyway.
But in those six hours, GTA fans who would normally head straight to YouTube will be opening Netflix instead. Some may sign up for the privilege, while plenty of existing subscribers will probably be reminded they still have an account in the first place.
Hopefully nobody spends too much, though, because the game itself starts at AUD$129.95 in Australia.
While Netflix gets a nifty little reason for GTA fans to open the app, Rockstar collects big on another round of anticipation around promotional material for a game that already has more buzz than most finished releases.
Honestly, it’s absurd to think that Rockstar is potentially being paid to promote its own game, although neither company has disclosed what changed hands for those six hours. Mission Complete, I suppose.
When Can Australians Watch It?
Australian GTA 6 fans have two choices on Friday, 28 August:
- Netflix: 5am AEST
- Rockstar’s YouTube channel and GTA 6 website: 11am AEST
Six hours is mostly bearable, particularly when every screenshot, clip and microscopic background detail will probably be ripped apart across the internet within minutes of the Netflix premiere. And we’ve already waited over a decade since the release of GTA 5.
That almost makes the deal more revealing. Rockstar has built GTA 6 into such a cultural event that even the advertising now gets its own exclusive premiere.
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