Oh, Rockstar Games – in the modern world, any of its announcements are always accompanied by such hype that all other news events – such as The Game Awards 2023 – are simply lost against this background.
Look, the announcement trailer for GTA VI was recently released. And in just 24 hours (okay, 33 hours), it reached 100 million views on YouTube, becoming the world’s first game trailer with over 90 million views in 24 hours and the most viewed non-music video in the same period in history.
The first trailer for the previous part of the franchise received 100.5 million views over the 12 years of its existence. The new trailer accumulated 110 million in a day and a half. And the sensational last part of the film epic about the Avengers with its first trailer collected 43 million in 24 hours, which was wow then.
And against the backdrop of all this and the really cool GTA VI trailer, I suggest you remember what trailers were for the previous parts and a couple of other games from the Rockstar Games studio. Let’s go through it in order
GTA I
Announcement of the game: development took about three years, but there was no big announcement as such.
Game release date: November 28, 1997.
Well, no trailer here, because the game didn’t have an official promotional video – not those times. You can, of course, watch fan versions – I’ll attach the most popular one below – but for the purity of the experiment, I propose to consider in detail only the official videos for all future games.
GTA II
Game announcement: January 26, 1999.
Game release date: October 22, 1999.
Eh, there were times when you didn’t have to wait ten years for each part from the moment of announcement… But oh well, on to the trailer! Here the story is much more interesting. This part of the series is the only one for which the developers made a full-fledged short film of 8 minutes, which can be easily found on YouTube or simply on the Internet – we cannot attach it because of the scenes it contains.
The film shows everything that the player had to do. Of course, in the game, taking into account technical limitations, many things had to be thought out and completed in the imagination, but at that time the release of such a video was an interesting and bold step. Now it is remembered only by fans or those who once experienced GTA II in person. The trailer was assembled from his footage. There is no need to talk about records on YouTube yet – at that time there were still six years left before the platform opened.
GTA III
Game announcement: September 29, 1999.
Game release date: October 22, 2001.
The first game in the series to go full 3D. What can we say, there was quite a fuss then, because few people believed what they saw. And when the game came out, the effect was no less strong than at the time of the release of GTA V. And I’m talking now about the impressions of not only players, but also developers from other studios. Game director Mikael Kasurinen from Remedy spoke interestingly:
“I remember walking into the Remedy office in November 2001. I was excited, a little nervous. It was my first day at work. The first thing I saw was several people watching TV. Some people laughed, others looked on, speechless. They played GTA III. It was provocative, unexpected, wildly funny and incredibly exciting. A tectonic shift in the world of video games that set the tone for my entire career and inspires my work even today.”
GTA: Vice City
Game announcement: May 21, 2002.
Game release date: October 29, 2002.
Coast with palm trees. Kilometers of neon lights. Girls in swimsuits roller skating. And the music on the radio… Eh, sorry, nostalgia got into my eyes. It is possible that so far no one has been able to better convey the spirit of Miami, oh, that is, Vice City of the 80s, than Rockstar Games. But it seems to me that the trailer in honor of the game’s tenth anniversary came out even better than the original one.
GTA: San Andreas
Game announcement: October 29, 2003.
Game release date: October 26, 2004.
Ah shit, here we go again. And we are happier about this than Sij.
It would seem that only two years have passed since the last game, but the leap that has taken place in the gameplay process is still amazing. This is the trend that Rockstar Games followed after its first releases – raising the bar higher and higher each time.
Bully
Game announcement: May 9, 2005.
Game release date: October 17, 2006.
And this, let’s say, is a good game, but not at all what was expected from the authors of the series about the great car thief. And when everyone saw the announcement trailer for Bully, to put it mildly, they didn’t understand the joke.
Of course, everyone wanted a new part of the most famous series, but they got a story about a difficult schoolboy. And in fact, and in many respects in terms of mechanics, this is the same GTA. But this was not what people were waiting for so ardently and zealously.
And this is where it gets interesting. Let me remind you that in February 2005, the YouTube platform began its long journey, so developers began uploading trailers there so that as many people as possible could see them.
Well, the official first trailer currently has 6.3 million views. It can be viewed on YouTube.
GTA IV
Game announcement: May 9, 2006.
Game release date: April 29, 2008.
“Why eat cabbage when you have potatoes?” And if you think about it this way, this phrase could well describe the entire game.
They were waiting for her, they wanted her, but in the end not everyone appreciated her. As always, a lot of innovative things have appeared in the new Rockstar game, but at the same time, according to many, the degree of madness and fun, which for many was the hallmark of the series, has decreased significantly. The truly breakthrough physics of cars was accompanied by a dull picture and a plot that pretended to have depth, but never achieved it. Along with the improved interaction of the gamer with the outside world, there were annoying and monotonous activities. And so with many things. So many people did not appreciate this approach, which is a pity.
However, this is a really important part of the series, because after it Rockstar Games managed to find the golden mean between realism and madness.
Views on YouTube currently: 8.7 million.
Red Dead Redemption
Game announcement: May 16, 2005.
Game release date: May 21, 2010.
So, PC boyars, I share your pain. The hope of seeing this game on personal computers still lingers somewhere in the back of my mind, but the reality is that this is unlikely to happen.
Well, “GTA in the Wild West.” This is how the game was initially dubbed, but soon they completely abandoned comparisons, because the experiment turned out to be phenomenally successful and deserved its independence. Still considered one of the best, if not the best game in the cowboy setting. The plot, atmosphere, gameplay, open world – all this amazed the imagination after the first trailer. It still amazes, second only to the second part.
The announcement took place before YouTube was launched, so let’s look at the first trailer for the game, released there in 2009.
Views on YouTube currently: 1.2 million.
GTA V
Game announcement: November 2, 2011.
Game release date: September 17, 2013.
Ladies and gentlemen, another revolution in the gaming industry. Yes, such that the hype still does not subside, ten years later. Many re-releases, the online version is still developing and collecting views on Twitch. And what happened at the time of release – what sales, what revenue, what reaction, what reviews! No wonder the next part was so eagerly awaited. But you know everything yourself – we had to wait a very long time.
Views on YouTube currently: 102 million.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Game announcement: October 18, 2016.
Game release date: October 26, 2018.
And this game is still considered by many to be the most important, a real magnum opus of Rockstar Games. The developers almost always managed to shock everyone with their announcement, because the bar they themselves had raised became unattainable over time, but here they once again managed to jump in over their heads.
Such elaboration of the in-game world, perhaps, is still not found in any other game. Gamers to this day find little things thought out by developers, build plot theories and collect hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube, simply showing how realistically the world reacts to their actions.
In general, the developers succeeded here too. A truly great game.
Views on YouTube currently: 23 million.
GTA VI
Game announcement: December 5/6, 2023.
Game release date: maybe sometime in 2025.
And this is where the article ends. And we can only wait and watch the announcement trailer.
