Netflix’s 27-minute preview of Grand Theft Auto VI has topped the charts for the streamer, landing higher than its own original properties.
Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look pulled 31.1 million views on Netflix between its release on Thursday, Aug. 28, and Sunday, Aug. 30, topping the platform's global charts and outperforming every film and TV title for the full week of Aug. 24-30, according to Variety.
The special ranked No. 1 on Netflix's English-language film list in 87 of the 93 countries the streamer tracks. Its closest competition was The Whisper Man, which finished the week with 23.2 million views, nearly 8 million behind the GTA VI special.
Rockstar brought the concept to Netflix, which received a six-hour exclusivity window before the footage went live on the Rockstar Games YouTube channel at 9 p.m. ET on Aug. 27.
Demand hit the streamer hard on premiere day, crashing Netflix briefly and triggering a 35% spike in concurrent users. The special also drove a 24% increase in Netflix app downloads.
The roughly 27-minute presentation includes new cutscenes, combat sequences, and gameplay segments featuring protagonists Jason and Lucia set against the fictional Vice City. Netflix's synopsis frames their story as a pair forced onto "the darkest side of the sunniest place in America" after a job goes sideways, pulling them into a criminal conspiracy across the state of Leonida.
Netflix VP of Nonfiction Series Brandon Riegg credited the franchise's cultural gravity for the record numbers.
"Grand Theft Auto reveals have become cultural moments in their own right," Riegg said in a statement. "The anticipation and fandom around Grand Theft Auto VI is unprecedented, and we're honored that Rockstar Games has partnered with us to debut the next part of the Grand Theft Auto story with Netflix members first."
GTA 6 is scheduled to launch Nov. 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, a full 13 years after GTA V.
