GTA 6’s Next Trailer Will Be Massive, But GTA 4 Accidentally Created Internet History
Rumours are flying again that Rockstar might drop a new Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer soon. Maybe this week, maybe not — GTA fans have already been through one false alarm cycle, so jangan terlalu confident lah.
But whenever the next GTA 6 footage lands, it will be huge. Gaming Twitter/X will explode, TikTok edits will appear within minutes, Reddit detectives will zoom into every traffic light, and Malaysian GTA fans will be arguing in Discord about whether their PC can even survive the eventual release.
Still, there is one piece of GTA trailer history that GTA 6 probably cannot beat: GTA 4’s second trailer hype accidentally helped create Rickrolling.
Wait, GTA 4 did what?
Before GTA 4 became the darker, more cinematic turn for Rockstar’s crime series, it was first announced at E3 2006 in very 2000s fashion. Microsoft’s Peter Moore revealed a temporary GTA 4 logo tattoo on his arm — yes, really.
Actual footage only arrived months later, in March 2007, through the first GTA 4 trailer, “Things Will Be Different.” Instead of the usual chaos, explosions, and jokes, Rockstar showed Liberty City like a living, breathing urban machine. Cars filled the roads, people rushed across the streets, and the whole thing felt more like a moody film project than a standard game reveal.
The trailer drew heavily from Godfrey Reggio’s experimental film Koyaanisqatsi, even using Philip Glass’ famous track “Pruit Igoe.” For long-time GTA players, it signalled that Rockstar was shifting gears. This was still GTA, but with a more serious, cinematic attitude.
It was also a proper internet moment. So many fans rushed to watch the trailer that Rockstar’s website reportedly crashed, forcing people to rip and reupload the video elsewhere. Very pre-YouTube-gaming-era behaviour, but honestly, same energy as today’s trailer mirror uploads.
The second trailer that wasn’t
Here’s where it gets legendary.
On May 15, 2007, about six weeks after GTA 4’s first trailer, a 4chan thread appeared claiming to link to the game’s second trailer. The post was made by 19-year-old Shawn Cotter.
But instead of new GTA 4 footage, the link sent people to Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.” That moment is widely recognised as the first recorded instance of Rickrolling.
The real second GTA 4 trailer only arrived later, on June 28, 2007, meaning 4chan had weeks to keep baiting each other with fake GTA 4 trailer links. From there, the joke escaped into the wider internet and became one of the most durable memes ever.
And that is the wild part. A fake GTA 4 trailer link turned into a meme still used nearly two decades later by people who may not even care about GTA.
Why GTA 6 still has a different kind of pressure
GTA 6 is absolutely a monster. The whole games industry is watching it. Other publishers clearly do not want to stand too close to Rockstar’s release window, and even rumours around delays can shake investor confidence around Take-Two.
For Malaysia and SEA players, the next trailer will matter too. It will shape hype, pre-order conversations, console upgrade plans, and the inevitable “PS5 dulu or wait for PC?” debate. GTA has always been huge here, from cyber cafe memories to open-world chaos clips shared in group chats.
But cultural impact is not just about view counts. GTA 6 can dominate the news cycle, but GTA 4’s trailer era accidentally gave the internet a prank format that refused to die.
So yes, bring on the next GTA 6 trailer. We’ll watch it frame by frame like everyone else. But unless it somehow creates a meme our future nephews are still using in 2046, GTA 4 keeps this weird little crown.
Source: Rock Paper Shotgun
