PARIS – A trailer for the latest instalment of blockbuster video game franchise Grand Theft Auto soared past 100 million views on YouTube on Dec 6, smashing records on its way.

The trailer teased a 2025 release date for the sixth edition of the game – a full 12 years after GTA V, which is the second biggest-selling video game in history.

Such was the pent-up excitement that the trailer shot past 60 million views on YouTube within 12 hours, breaking a record claimed by American YouTuber MrBeast.

He said in October that a video he uploaded comparing houses of varying values clocked up 60 million views in 23 hours, making it a record for a non-music video.

But the YouTuber, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, posted on Dec 5 on X, formerly Twitter: “The GTA 6 trailer just broke our record for most views on YouTube in 24 hours.”

The GTA VI trailer, however, fell short of the overall YouTube record – South Korean boy band BTS racked up more than 108 million views on the first day for their song Butter and 101 million for Dynamite.

The trailer focused on a character named Lucia, freshly freed from prison in a Florida-like setting – making her the first playable woman character in a franchise long criticised for its depiction of women, minorities and LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) people.

It took GTA VI more than 30 hours to pass 100 million views.

Fans were near universal in their praise for the snippets of action – the YouTube upload has nine million likes – but many commented on the length of time between the fifth and sixth editions.

“At this rate, I’ve got about three GTAs left in my lifetime,” wrote YouTubers The Slow Mo Guys in response to the trailer. AFP