Rockstar Is Really Good At Making GTA Trailers

Released: Summer 2001

I’m 99% sure this is the first teaser Rockstar released for GTA III publicly online, but documentation for this kind of stuff wasn’t nearly as detailed as it is today. Remember this was back before trailers went up on YouTube (or other similar sites.) Instead, you had to download them from Rockstar Games and use Windows Media Player or RealPlayer to watch your internet videos. Regardless, this GTA III trailer establishes a pattern that will be used moving forward, with the teaser focused on showing the world and some action.

Released: Summer 2002

Ahhh, here we go. Do you want cool ‘80s beach vibes? Rockstar had you covered with its first public trailer for GTA: Vice City. It’s wild to think this was released just a year after GTA III’s initial debut teaser. Once again, this initial trailer, even more so than III’s, is all about the world, the vibes, and the feel of Vice City. The story and characters aren’t the focus, because the player can shape some of that themselves

Released: August 2004

I remember when I was a young lad, how frustrated I was at the “long wait” that was the two years between Vice City and Rockstar’s follow-up, San Andreas. Now, I just feel silly. But anyway, like the past two games, the initial teaser for San Andreas is all about the vibes, showing off just enough new stuff to get people excited, like flyable planes, ‘90s era Los Santos, and the inclusion of street gangs. And as always, Rockstar picks a perfect song to go along with its teaser.

Released: March 2007

I have vivid memories of watching this trailer. I remember having a terrible internet connection so I went over to a friend’s house and stayed the night so I could catch it as soon as it dropped. The next day, the GTA IV trailer launched—after a weird gunshot countdown clock—and we watched it close to 200 times that day— So many people wanted to watch this trailer that it temporarily crashed Rockstar’s website.

And like the debut trailers before it, this one focuses almost entirely on the city and the vibes, presenting what looked back then like a photorealistic recreation of a modern city. This wasn’t the silly, exaggerated world of GTA Vice City or San Andreas. This was almost like a documentary of New York City, featuring mundane activities like driving and riding the subway. But now in HD.

Released: November 2011

“Why did I move here? I guess it was the weather.”

It’s odd how ingrained this trailer is in my brain, to the point where I remembered that opening line before I even watched it ahead of writing this list. But GTA V’s first trailer (which mixed gorgeous shots of Los Santos and vignettes of its citizens with GTA-like chaos happening between) was a huge step up from Rockstar’s past GTA teasers. I remember being so excited to play this game and the year of speculation that followed as people dug through every little frame, trying to piece together the game’s map, story, and more.

Released: October 2016

Some of you might be screaming: “Wait a minute! This isn’t a GTA trailer!” And you are correct, but I wanted to include it as it’s important.

This is, until the GTA VI trailer launches, the most recent new debut trailer from Rockstar Games. So it’s useful to show that Rockstar’s pattern of dropping a teaser trailer that is solely based on vibes continued up until its most recent video game. (It also continues the trend of each debut trailer being around 70 to 90 seconds long.)

Released: December 2023

Looking back, it seems clear to me that the first teaser for Rockstar’s next GTA game won’t be all about the characters or their motivations. Instead, expect a bit of GTA action sprinkled between shots showing off the game’s new city and Rockstar’s improved tech.

There is the possibility that, because of the big GTA leak of 2022, Rockstar might give us a bit more story or character moments than usual, as many GTA fans and gamers already know the basic details of the game.

But I also imagine Rockstar wants to pretend that the leak didn’t happen and assumes (correctly, I think) that the vast majority of people who are not criminally online—you know, most people— will watch this trailer without any knowledge of the leaks at all. So this is, for those folks at least, Rockstar’s big introduction to the sequel to one of the most successful video games ever made. No pressure.

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