Rockstar’s highly anticipated extended look at Grand Theft Auto VI debuted exclusively on Netflix, but Downdetector reports surged as fans rushed to watchDennis Bihler| Related TopicsThe wait for a major official look at Grand Theft Auto VI was finally supposed to end Thursday. For some fans, Netflix had other plans.Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look premiered on Netflix at 3 p.m. ET, giving subscribers a six-hour head start before the presentation reaches Rockstar’s YouTube channel and the official GTA VI website at 9 p.m. ET.GTA 6 Netflix extended lookBut as fans rushed to watch, reports of problems with Netflix surged.Downdetector, which tracks outages based on user reports, showed a sudden spike around the time of the premiere, with more than 3,000 reports of problems as viewers attempted to access the service.The timing is especially striking given the extraordinary anticipation surrounding GTA VI. Rockstar has released relatively little official footage ahead of the game’s planned November 19 launch, while unauthorized gameplay clips have circulated online in recent days. Rockstar described those leaks as “heartbreaking” for the development team.Thursday’s presentation is also an unusual experiment for both Rockstar and Netflix. Rather than immediately releasing its latest promotional material on YouTube, Rockstar gave Netflix an exclusive six-hour window, a rare arrangement for a major video game reveal.Netflix’s listing puts the presentation at roughly 26 minutes, with reports indicating the footage was captured in-game on PlayStation 5.Rockstar itself had been careful not to describe the event simply as a new “trailer,” calling it an “extended look” instead, fueling speculation that fans would finally get a substantially longer glimpse at gameplay, characters and the world of Leonida.Those unable to get Netflix working will not have to wait long. The same presentation is scheduled to become available free on Rockstar’s official YouTube channel and GTA VI website at 9 p.m. ET, six hours after its Netflix debut.For Netflix, though, the moment may already have delivered an unexpected demonstration of just how intense demand for GTA VI has become: one of gaming’s most anticipated reveals went live, and almost immediately, the outage reports shot upward.Comments