In a result that is sure to upset the future of video game marketing, Variety reports that Netflix’s six-hour exclusive Grand Theft Auto VI: Extended Look trailer topped 31.1 million views in just four days. It wound up becoming the most-viewed title on the service for last week and, despite only having a limited window of exclusivity, has done better on Netflix than YouTube. As if you needed any more proof, the trailer ranked number one in 87 of 93 countries that Netflix tracks analytics for.
As Variety points out, views are counted differently between online platforms like YouTube and streaming services such as Netflix. On YouTube via Rockstar’s official page, the Extended Look trailer has around 18 million views with an additional 6 million on Netflix’s own channel. YouTube counts a single view as the second someone starts a video regardless of whether they finish it. Netflix, on the other hand, counts one view as the total hours viewed divided by the runtime of the film. This creates a scenario where two people in the same house could watch a film at different times, but only be counted as a single view. If Netflix adopted a system similar to how YouTube counts things, it’s possible the Extended Look trailer would be double or triple its current view count.
Either way, the precedent being set by Rockstar and Netflix could eventually spell the end of traditional shows like The Game Awards and such. While shows like that bring good viewership and a ton of eyes on different games, it’s not possible to get a direct count of who is paying attention to what. With a dedicated special on a popular streaming platform though, publishers can gauge interest in specific games on a micro-level to better read audience interest. It’s unlikely we’ll see indie games grabbing attention on Netflix, but the next Resident Evil? Who knows?
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
