With this week’s extended trailer, an unavoidable storm of hype has kicked off in earnest – and with it a hope that Rockstar’s landmark launch could be a tide that lifts all boats.

When the hype engine for GTA 6 roared into top gear this week, there was a quietly touching aspect amid the excitement that will stay with me for a while. As the 27 minute long extended look at the game racked up millions of views on YouTube, a theme emerged in the comments. Many of the most upvoted messages were brief tributes to friends and loved ones who adored GTA but had passed away before the game’s release – a surprisingly poignant response to the tongue-in-cheek ultraviolence of the video itself.

Those comments speak volumes about what GTA actually is – about the immense mindspace it occupies for entire generations. No other game has ever held that kind of dominant position on the cultural landscape, but it’s arguably been decades since any kind of media franchise held this level of public attention. One of the most extraordinary things about GTA is not just that it has this level of fame and influence, but that it does so in the fragmented media landscape of the 2020s, when even the world’s most successful movies, music, or TV rarely if ever attain the kind of mass-market reach that hits and stars of the 80s and 90s could command.

I’ll admit to feeling a little trepidation about GTA 6. The previous game was so incredibly successful , such a landmark for the industry, and without Rockstar saying very much at all, the hype for its follow-up felt unstoppable even years out from launch.

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