Rockstar says its new GTA 6 trailer does feature gameplay and has garnered more views in its first day than any trailer ever.
After Rockstar Games and Take-Two admitted GTA 6 would not meet its autumn release window, and will instead launch next year, they softened the blow with a surprise new trailer.
While it was hugely impressive in terms of the graphics, and some new information regarding its cast of characters was shared via a website update, the trailer appears to consist entirely of cut scenes, with no sign of actual gameplay.
To ward off doubters, Rockstar itself has since clarified that the trailer is ‘comprised of equal parts gameplay and cut scenes’ and was ‘captured entirely in-game from a PlayStation 5.’
Obviously, any gameplay shown is being framed differently to how it will look when you sit down and play it for yourself. Game trailers typically remove HUD elements and use camera angles not possible when you’re playing, to help make things seem more cinematic and exciting.
However, knowing this does make it a bit easier to gauge when the cut scenes end and the gameplay begins. Shots of protagonists Jason and Lucia driving vehicles could be gameplay, as well as the shot of Jason weightlifting, which some theorise confirms the return of the weightlifting mechanic from GTA: San Andreas.
This also further emphasises just how good GTA 6 looks visually, when its gameplay is indistinguishable from its cut scenes. Plus, you apparently don’t need the more powerful PS5 Pro to enjoy the graphics.
Granted, in its X post about the new trailer, Rockstar doesn’t specifically say that the footage in the trailer is running on a base PlayStation 5. But, if it were captured on PS5 Pro, surely Sony would want Rockstar to specify that, if only to try and encourage people into upgrading their console.
Despite the doubts about its gameplay, the new GTA 6 trailer has proved incredibly popular. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it saw over 475 million views in its first 24 hours.
That’s more than the first trailer in 2023 achieved in the same time frame (93 million views), with Rockstar adding that this makes GTA 6’s second trailer the biggest video launch of all time.
That means it was watched more in the first 24 hours than the trailer for any other medium, including movies. The closest any film has got is 365 million for Deadpool & Wolverine.
At the time of writing, the trailer’s total view count on YouTube is over 84 million, so it still has a long way to go to catch up to the first trailer’s total of 255 million. The only thing that could prevent that is if a new trailer is released relatively soon after – since Trailer 1 had a year and a half to rack up its total.
The song featured in the trailer – Hot Together by The Pointer Sisters – has benefited from its inclusion too. According to Spotify, streams of the song jumped by a staggering 182,000% following the trailer’s release.
There’s no clue as to when Trailer 3 will arrive but when it does it will likely feature more obvious gameplay footage and hopefully some details about gameplay features and modes.
GTA 6 won’t be out for another 12 months though, on May 26, 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, so there’s another long wait ahead.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter.
To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.
For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.