Netflix's GTA 6 Trailer Trashed As 'Next Level Greed' By Fans

Fans aren't being literal here — there is a general understanding that both companies stand to benefit monetarily from such a partnership. A new GTA 6 trailer is a huge deal, however, if not an event in itself. People want to be able to watch it the moment it goes live, not wait hours for the YouTube version. Folks want to stream live trailer reactions, or to watch it alongside friends with ease. They want to do it like they always have: for free. Paying to watch marketing for a game that also requires purchase has left fans feeling bewildered.

"Making us sub to Netflix to watch an advertisement is next level greed, scum, and villainy," reads one of the top replies to Rockstar's announcement on social media site X .

"So now you need to spend $8–$15 to watch an ad," another wrote on X. "This world and this industry is going down to a sewer."

Fans know that the trailer will hit places like YouTube a while after its Netflix premiere. That also likely means that, for hours, anyone who tries re-uploading the footage to social media will be hit with a copyright strike. Netflix and device DRM can prevent screenshots, and the average person may not know the workarounds. It also remains to be seen how strict platforms will be about pulling content like screenshots during the exclusivity period.

If this seems like an overreaction, it's worth knowing that some fans were already displeased with Rockstar. Grand Theft Auto Online players are still reeling from recent changes to the game that made the experience more of a grind. The perception is that Rockstar tuned the game to encourage purchases of Shark Cards that offer an instant in-game payout. Fear that GTA 6 will be overly monetized isn't helped by the Netflix news, or the knowledge that key content is locked behind a pricier Collector's Edition.

The other thing that's top of mind for fans is PlayStation's decision to cease physical game production in 2028 . Rockstar wasn't responsible for that choice, but the public does know that Sony is treating GTA 6 as if it were a platform exclusive . Sony has spent months pulling out all the stops for GTA 6 , in a way we've never seen the publisher do for its own games. Sony's platform will have more bells and whistles , and the game will supposedly run better on PlayStation as well.

The timing of PlayStation's disc announcement also stands out to fans. Rockstar announced that GTA 6 would not be sold with a physical disc a week before PlayStation's controversial announcement. There's no evidence that the two companies coordinated their announcements. But watching the biggest game of the year confidently skirt a physical release pushes audiences to accept an all-digital future. Whether accidental or intentional, the anger we're seeing now is inherently blunted.

One of the most popular replies to Rockstar's announcement on X is a reminder of the impending PlayStation Blackout. The plan is that, from Aug. 23 to Aug. 30 this year, fans will quit using or spending money on PlayStation platforms. The new trailer falls under that time period, so some fans perceive subscribing to Netflix as a betrayal of the boycott.

Mostly, though, fans can't get over the irony.

"This is exactly the kind of shit Rockstar mocks on their games," one fan said on Reddit .

"I think the funniest thing about all of this is how fucking meta it is, perhaps accidentally ... They are doing the very things they made fun of," another wrote.

Indexed and credited by AIPROPX. Originating outlet: Polygon. Open at source →