Do exclusives still matter? It's a question Xbox and PlayStation have been asking themselves almost this entire generation, but Netflix thinks it's a pretty definitive yes. In fact, the streamer is so sure about its answer that it's paid to lock down an extended look at GTA 6, streaming exclusively on Netflix for… six hours?
As announced earlier today, Grand Theft Auto 6: An Extended Look debuts for Netflix subscribers on August 27 at 3pm ET (or 12pm PT, 8PM BST), before it goes live on Rockstar Games' YouTube channel and website six hours later. Perhaps the shortest timed exclusivity window in all of gaming.
It's an unconventional move, for sure, and fans are just as bewildered by GTA 6's patchy marketing.
"I know this community can be extreme sometimes, but this has to be the weirdest marketing I've ever seen for a videogame," one Redditor who probably doesn't remember the Xbox 360 MTV campaign writes. "A trailer for a trailer? A Netflix exclusive first? WTF is going on."
Another fan notes that maybe Rockstar Games has finally become the capitalist beast it's been satirizing for decades (others would argue that's been the case for years already): "Kinda feel like the whole idea of GTA games constantly criticizing capitalist America starts to show within Rockstar itself... A Netflix special for that? I feel like I’m in a GTA game."
"So this is a bad portent for what's to come with them monetizing the sh** out of every aspect of this game going forward. They found a way to paywall a f****** trailer," says a third. Rockstar already caught some flak for locking certain in-game shops and features behind GTA 6's $100 Ultimate Edition, so the Netflix exclusivity isn't leaving folks more hopeful about the game's monetization.
It's a sentiment echoed across social media forums, too. "Rockstar and T2 will make a buck anyway they possibly can. Can't wait to see what the new online will look like," one fan ponders.
Another GTA 6 delay "would not" shock a former GTA 5 dev who says it wouldn't "hurt" Rockstar at all
