I think it has long been clear to everyone (even the most conservative and narrow-minded) that the video game industry stands on equal footing with every other entertainment industry and has the power to shape (and influence) trends. Even if you combined the film and music industries into one, the video game industry would still be far, far, far larger in revenue. It doesn’t matter whether you play on a computer, a console, a handheld or a phone. Even if you’re just playing “match-3” on the bus, you are part of that industry.
And what greater proof of how much a single game can influence the world than the fact that Netflix approached Rockstar Games and said, “We want to be the ones to release Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look before it appears on YouTube, even if it’s only six hours earlier.”
Any further comment is unnecessary.
If you’ve been living like a hermit all these years and don’t know what the Grand Theft Auto series (also known as GTA) is, here’s a quick summary:
It’s a video game series in which the player takes on the role of a criminal and explores a huge virtual city inspired by real American cities. The player can drive cars (and other vehicles), complete various missions, take part in heists and police chases, but also freely explore the game world and choose what to do. It is one of the best-known and most successful series in video game history, famous for the enormous freedom it gives players, its cinematic storytelling and its satire of modern society.
Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look is nothing more than 26 minutes of gameplay footage on PlayStation 5. There is no commentator, player, analyst, or representative from Netflix or Rockstar. We simply follow a semi-interactive portion of the campaign in which the player controls the two protagonists, who are supposed to pull off a small “job” but get dragged into unplanned chaos, including a shootout with the police, and later end up as drivers for an unusual character who tests whether they’re up to the “job” (and, of course, chaos breaks out here too).
I won’t go on at length about the visuals, the music, or who provides the voices. I’ll just say that even for a game this complex (open-world), a lot of weight is placed on visual presentation, music is one of the most important elements of this series, and great care goes into who is cast for the voice acting.
Development on the game began some 7–8 years ago, and its budget is estimated at between $1 billion and $1.2 billion (for comparison, the combined budget of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame was around $800 million). Think that’s unrealistic for a video game? The previous game (GTA V) came out in 2013 (also after years of development), had a budget of around $265 million, and to this day is estimated to have generated nearly $10 billion in revenue (yes, you read that right), with over 230 million copies sold! Did you know that only Tetris and Minecraft have sold more copies than this game!?
This is where I’ll wrap up this “review,” which is really more of an insight for readers into how a single video game can potentially influence the world.
Want to know how GTA VI could influence the world? Here I’ve done an analysis/reflection, but one tailored entirely for the general public… at least I hope it turned out that way… 😆
By the way, the game comes out on November 19, 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox consoles; a PC release date hasn’t been announced yet (but rest assured it will show up at some point).
You can watch Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look on Netflix or on the official Rockstar Games YouTube channel.
