How Rockstar Hyped People Up For GTA V Over A Decade Ago

Grand Theft Auto V launched over a decade ago on Xbox 360 and PS3 in September 2013. And its sequel, the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6, is seemingly, finally, actually, for real, launching this November. Take-Two’s CEO is even promising that the game’s marketing will kick off this summer.

So, as we wait for that and hope the game doesn’t get delayed again, let’s look back at the complete timeline for GTA V‘s marketing and promotion, from announcement to release.

2011

GTA V was officially announced on October 25, 2011, via a simple little tweet that just said “#GTAV.” People went wild at the time as the last main installment in the series, GTA IV, had been released in 2008. Can you imagine waiting possibly four years for a GTA sequel?!?!

©Twitter / Kotaku

One week later, on November 2, Rockstar released the first trailer for Grand Theft Auto V. It featured narration by one of the game’s main characters, Michael, and showed beauty shots of Los Santos and the surrounding area. Young Zack watched this trailer way too many times. It ended without a release date. Then…nothing. Radio silence from Rockstar. The more things change…

2012

In July 2012, as part of a Rockstar Newswire post answering fan questions, Rockstar released two new screenshots of GTA V. They didn’t feature any main characters, but offered two new looks at the then-upcoming open-world game. Once again, a lot of GTA fans went wild over these crumbs.

In August 2012, Rockstar teased fans with 10 more screenshots released across three different posts throughout the month. The company also promised that more was coming in the near future. But fans would have to wait a little bit longer than planned.

Rockstar planned to release a second trailer for GTA V on November 2. However, these plans were derailed when Hurricane Sandy slammed into New York City, where Rockstar’s main HQ is located, and knocked out the power. The trailer would eventually be released 12 days later on November 14. It featured the excellent song “Skeletons” by Stevie Wonder, a song I can’t hear without thinking about this trailer.

In October, a year after the game was announced, Rockstar confirmed a leaked release date of “Spring 2013” for the game. In November, it started taking pre-orders for GTA V. Before 2012 ended, Game Informer ran a large cover story about Grand Theft Auto V, detailing a hands-off demo they were shown and revealing some other details about the game.

Early 2013

Rockstar kicked off the new year with bad news. On January 31, Rockstar Games announced that GTA V had been delayed from Spring 2013 to September 17, 2013.

“To all Grand Theft Auto fans, please accept our apologies for the delay, and our promise that the entire team here is working very hard to make the game all it can be. We are doing all we can to help ensure it will meet, if not exceed, your expectations come September – we thank you for your support and patience,” posted Rockstar at the time.

A few months later, in April, Rockstar revealed the game’s official cover via a mural painted on the side of a building in New York City. Later that same month, Rockstar Games released not one, not two, but three different trailers. Each trailer focused on one of the three playable protagonists in the game. Younger Zack lost his shit that day, let me tell you. Rockstar would once more enter radio silence mode, but this would be the last time before an onslaught of marketing and promotion kicked off.

Summer 2013

On July 9, Rockstar finally shared actual gameplay of GTA V as part of a gameplay overview trailer. This was the first time most people had ever seen the game running on actual hardware, and it was wild to witness. I remember being shocked at how good it looked. Even today, all these years later, I still think the original version of GTA V and GTA Online look pretty dang good.

Also in July, a viral marketing campaign began using an old GTA San Andreas-era website mocking Scientology and cults. This would end up leading players to a fake Twitter account for the Epsilon Cult and would end with a way to audition to be in the game. Five people were picked and digitally added to GTA V.

Between August 13 and September 13, Rockstar began posting blogs on its website sharing even more details about GTA V’s world and characters, as well as new screenshots. The floodgates were truly open at this point.

On August 15, Rockstar released a gameplay overview showing off our first look at GTA Online. Looking back at it now, it is clear that Rockstar had no idea what this game would evolve into over the next decade. It looks so quaint now.

And finally, on August 29, 2013, just over two weeks before the launch of GTA V on Xbox and PlayStation, Rockstar released the final pre-release trailer for the game. This was a shorter trailer and would end up being played on TV as GTA V’s launch commercial. If you were watching cable back around 2013, you likely saw this ad a few dozen times or more.

That ends the marketing timeline for GTA V. Of course, the game would go on to be ported to many more platforms, get many more trailers, and spawn GTA Online, one of the most successful live-service games ever made. And it all started with a tweet in 2011.