Although GTA VI is not expected to come out until 2025, it is already making waves and smashing records with just one teaser. Let’s take a look at its numbers and compare them to other notable video game trailers.
According to Guinness World Records, the first GTA VI trailer broke three YouTube records within a day of its premiere:
- The most viewed video game reveal on the platform in 24 hours — 90.42 million views;
- The most liked video game reveal — 8.9 million likes in 24 hours;
- The most viewed non-music video on YouTube in 24 hours — surpassed Mr. Beast’s Every Country On Earth Fights For $250,000, which generated 59.4 million views in its first day.
In fact, the GTA VI trailer reached 60 million views in 12 hours, meaning it took the video even less than 24 hours to break Mr. Beast’s record.
— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) December 5, 2023
At the moment of writing, the GTA VI trailer has over 105 million views. Despite the bold predictions, it failed to surpass the record of K-pop band BTS, whose two music videos — Dynamite and Butter — reached 101 million and 108.2 million views in 24 hours, respectively. But it is still a remarkable achievement for Rockstar, especially when compared to other video games.
In just over 24 hours, the GTA VI reveal surpassed the GTA V first trailer, which had amassed over 101 million views in 12 years, to become the most popular video on Rockstar’s YouTube channel. It is followed by GTA V’s gameplay trailer (40 million), Red Dead Redemption 2’s trailer #3 (37 million), and RDR 2’s trailer #2 (34 million).
GTA VI trailer compared to the most popular game trailers of all time
Despite its record-breaking numbers, the GTA VI reveal video is not yet the most viewed video game trailer (but may become one in the future).
For example, Minecraft’s official trailer has generated over 167 million views in 12 years, and viral hit Among Us has 169 million views on its Beta Launch Trailer (in five years).
But GTA VI definitely stands out among its AAA rivals, especially given that it managed to cross the 100 million mark in just over 24 hours. Below are some of the most viewed video game trailers on YouTube of all time:
- Team Fortress 2‘s “Meet the Medic” — 82.8 million views (in 12 years)
- Battlefield 1‘s “Official Reveal Trailer” — 71.7 million views (in 7 years)
- Fortnite‘s “Chapter 2 – Season 2 | Top Secret Launch Trailer” — 64.4 million views (in 3 years)
- Poppy Playtime‘s “Chapter 2 – Official Game Trailer” — 59.3 million views (in almost 2 years)
- Assassin’s Creed Unity‘s “E3 2014 World Premiere Cinematic Trailer” — 56.3 million views (in 9 years)
- Super Mario Odyssey‘s “2017 Trailer” — 55.3 million views (in 6 years)
- Assassin’s Creed 3‘s “E3 Official Trailer” — 47.7 million views (in 11 years)
- Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare‘s “Official Reveal Trailer” — 46.5 million views (in 7 years)
- Fallout 76‘s “Official Trailer” — 39 million views (in 5 years)
- World of Warcraft‘s “Warlords of Draenor Cinematic” — 36.2 million views (in 9 years)
- Hogwarts Legacy‘s “Official Reveal Trailer | PS5” — 34.1 million views (in 3 years)
- Cyberpunk 2077‘s “Official Gameplay Trailer” — 33.7 million views (in 3 years)
If we take a look at the free-to-play segment, League of Legends has several cinematic videos with over 100 million views, including “The Call” (156 million), “Warriors” (151 million), and “Awaken” (121 million).
There are many mobile games with impressive results. For example, Subway Surfers’ “Official Google Play Trailer” has reached over 361 million views on YouTube in 11 years, and Clash of Clans’ “Welcome to Clan Capital” has generated 150.5 million views in just over a year. However, there is a chance that a large portion of those views were generated via ads.