'Grand Theft Auto VI' Hype Reportedly Propels Latest Trailer to Nearly Half a Billion Views in a Day

Exactly how big—nay, massive—is the hype surrounding the release of Grand Theft Auto VI, which is still a year away following its recently confirmed delay? A new report citing stats on the second trailer for the Rockstar Games title provides a clear picture of the sustaining demand for the franchise nearly 30 years into its record-breaking run.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the new trailer, which arrived on Tuesday in the wake of Rockstar’s delay announcement, had hit over 475 million views across platforms as of Wednesday. The report includes comparisons to major film trailers, including Deadpool & Wolverine and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, noting that both were bested by GTA VI when looking at views for the first 24 hours.

The Pointer Sisters’ “Hot Together,” meanwhile, is reported to have seen an almost incomprehensibly huge streaming bump (182,000 percent) after being used in the new trailer.

On YouTube alone, the trailer has amassed more than 85 million views as of this writing. It’s currently the No. 1 trending video on the platform. In 2023, the first GTA VI trailer, soundtracked by the late Tom Petty, was reported to have stacked up over 93 million views on YouTube in its first 24 hours of availability. At the time, this was widely said to stand as the most-viewed trailer launch (i.e. not a music video, etc.) in history.

“The interest and excitement surrounding a new Grand Theft Auto has been truly humbling for our entire team,” a Rockstar rep said in a statement last week when announcing that GTA VI would be launching on May 26 of next year and not in 2025 as originally expected. “We want to thank you for your support and your patience as we work to finish the game.”

While some fans were frustrated over news of the delay, especially considering the lengthy wait following GTA V’s 2013 rollout, the pushback may very well make the eventual release even more of a pop culture mega-moment. A similar approach certainly worked for Playboi Carti, whose long-teased MUSIC—his first album since 2020’s Whole Lotta Red—eventually spent multiple weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart after finally arriving earlier this year.