If Rockstar Follows Its Own Precedent, Don’t Expect GTA 6 Trailer 3 This Week

If Rockstar Follows Its Own Precedent, Don’t Expect GTA 6 Trailer 3 This Week

With the GTA 6 release date fast approaching and preorders set to go live on June 25, many fans are hopeful that the third trailer will be released alongside the preorder launch. However, if Rockstar Games sticks to its past marketing strategies, the third trailer may not arrive this week at all.

During the marketing campaign for GTA 5, Rockstar opened preorders on November 5, 2012. At the time, preorders were available nearly 10 months before the game’s release, compared to the five-month window for GTA 6. Alongside the preorder announcement, Rockstar teased that a new trailer would be coming soon.

Nine days later, on November 14, 2012, Rockstar released character trailers for the protagonists Franklin, Trevor, and Michael. This pattern suggests that the third trailer for GTA 5 came shortly after preorders began.

For GTA 4, the box art was revealed on November 28, 2007, but the third trailer didn’t become public until December 6, 2007 — eight days later. This shows that Rockstar often waits a short time after major announcements to release new content.

It takes a bit of calculation, but GTA 6 Trailer 3 could be a while away yet. If Rockstar is following a similar marketing pattern for GTA 6, we may not see another official glimpse at the game until the first week of July.

The gap between the first and second trailers for GTA 5 was 378 days, and the gap between the second and third was 168 days. For GTA 6, that timeline has already been surpassed, with a massive 519-day gap between the first and second trailers. At the time of writing, it has been 414 days since the second trailer was released.

That’s not to say a third trailer, character trailers, or even a story trailer won’t drop alongside preorders. For example, Red Dead Redemption 2’s third trailer came a whole month before preorders were available. This suggests that Rockstar isn’t sticking to one specific marketing approach across its portfolio. The company has a history of varying its strategies based on the game and the time available before release.