GTA VI first look is the most-watched title on Netflix with 31 million views, beats Robert de Niro film, Outer Banks S5

Netflix had a busy release slate last week. The final season of Outer Banks premiered, and Robert de Niro returned to the service with a thriller where he catches a serial killer. And yet, neither of these titles was the most-watched on the streaming service during the week. That win went to the premiere of gameplay footage from the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA VI).

The exclusive peek at GTA VI, one of the most-anticipated gaming titles of all time, premiered on Netflix exclusively for six hours before it was made available on YouTube and other video platforms. That window was enough to help it rack up 31.1 million views. According to Netflix's data arm, Tudum, the short film topped the Netflix charts for the week. The Whisper Man, starring De Niro and Adam Scott, followed with just over 20 million views, while Spanish film Facing El Chapo rounded up the top 3. Among shows, Death of the Pastor's Wife reigned supreme with 19 million views, while Outer Banks had to make do with the 3rd spot.

The near-27-minute video, showcasing the open-world crime game ahead of its planned November 19 release, marks the first time the company has featured marketing for an upcoming video game. The last edition of the game sold more than 230 million copies, and the new one is expected to be one of the most lucrative entertainment products of all time.

Developed and published by Rockstar Games, GTA VI is the eighth main Grand Theft Auto game, following Grand Theft Auto V (2013), and the sixteenth entry overall. Set within the fictional US state of Leonida, based on Florida, the game follows a criminal couple: Jason Duval, who worked for local drug runners in the Leonida Keys after serving in the Army; and Lucia Caminos, the series' first non-optional female protagonist, who was imprisoned at Leonida Penitentiary after fighting for her family from Liberty City. Following a failed bank heist, the duo encounters a state-wide conspiracy and is forced to protect each other.

The first trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI, released in 2023, has racked up 293 million views on YouTube and broken several viewership records.

In the days ahead of the premiere, more than a dozen clips from Grand Theft Auto VI were leaked online. Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., the company behind Grand Theft Auto, has subpoenaed the chat company Discord Inc. as it looks to find the leaker.

Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border.