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Former GTA co-creator Dan Houser recently talked about Rockstar Games' marketing strategy. The company is known for some of the best marketing strategies in gaming history. Though Houser was mainly a writer, he played a major role in how the games are released, as he was also a producer and co-founder.In a recent interview on the Lex Fridman podcast, Dan Houser explained that Rockstar Games' marketing was an evolution of classic film marketing, which allowed players to feel that they were already a part of the game before it even released. He praised his former company's marketing, which kept players hooked for several years before the game's release."We were good at marketing them as well. We really tried to market them in a way that felt like an update of classic film marketing, where you really felt like you're already in the product just because you'd seen the trailers and stuff," [59:53]Houser also explained that the Grand Theft Auto series is so appealing to players because the games are spaced out quite a lot, automatically making them exciting. Also, he explained that though the series is about being a criminal, each title varies in terms of graphics, mechanics, story, and characters, making them unique."Because they don't come out that regularly. And I think we did a really good job of constantly innovating within what the IP was. The games always felt different, you know, people have very strong feelings: "I like this one. I didn't like that one as much," because they are pretty different." [59:25]Since GTA 6 is now six months away from release, many are discussing what Rockstar's marketing strategy is for it. Fans have looked at trailer dates and announcements of their previous titles to get an idea of when new information could be dropped.Take Two Interactive CEO explains GTA 6's marketing strategyBack in March 2025, Rockstar Games' parent company, Take-Two Interactive's CEO, Strauss Zelnick, touched on GTA 6's marketing strategy in an interview on Bloomberg Television.He stated that the company wants to ramp up marketing relatively close to the release date, as opposed to revealing content years before, like other game companies do."The anticipation for that title may be the greatest anticipation I've ever seen for an entertainment property. And we want to maintain the anticipation and the excitement...We found that the better thing to do is to provide marketing materials relatively close to the release window in order to create that excitement on one hand and balance the excitement with unmet anticipation," Zelnick said. [30:25]As of now, GTA 6 is now six months away from release, dropping on May 26, 2026. Rockstar Games has released two trailers, 70 screenshots, and an entire website introducing locations and a brief history of several main characters.Check out our other content:"I always wished I'd done more": Dan Houser on wanting to make GTA story DLCs during his time at Rockstar GamesGTA developer Rockstar Games accused of union-busting after firing up to 40 employeesGTA Online weekly update (October 30 - November 5, 2025)
