Video games are not bigger than movies as Avengers: Doomsday trailer beats GTA 6

It’s been more than a year since GTA 6’s second trailer broke viewership records, but it’s since been beaten by two different Marvel movies.

There’s no denying that GTA 6 will be absolutely huge when it launches on November 19. It’s easily the most anticipated video game ever made and is estimated to make upwards of $5.2 billion in just one week, dwarfing the lifetime returns of any movie.

However, when GTA 6’s second trailer was touted as the most watched trailer in 24 hours, it seemed to inflate peoples’ sense of the game’s wider importance in pop culture.

Some theorised Disney and Marvel were scared enough to delay Avengers: Doomsday, to avoid releasing too closely to GTA 6, but, if new trailer figures are anything to go by, it’s clear they have little to worry about.

As reported by Variety, the first real trailer for Avengers: Doomsday, which is the next major Marvel crossover movie and releases on December 18 (one month after GTA 6), was watched 503 million times in its first 24 hours.

While not as much as Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s first trailer, which accrued 719 million views in 24 hours, that’s still more than GTA 6’s record of 495 million.

The fact that two upcoming Marvel movies have handily outperformed GTA 6 in terms of their trailers highlights that for as significant a release as GTA 6 is, it doesn’t compete with the very biggest movies.

It shows that for as much money as the games industry makes, having grown more mainstream over the years, movies are still a bigger draw for the general public.

There’s something especially telling that Marvel movie trailers are accruing more views, despite the public perception of the brand having long since passed its peak.

While there’s been no shortage of online discussions about superhero fatigue and the Marvel Cinematic Universe growing stale, Doomsday is generating a massive amount of buzz – and ticket pre-sales.

None of this should be that surprising, though. Marvel is a far more globally popular brand than GTA and it appeals to a wider audience, being something kids and adults can enjoy in equal measure.

That isn’t to say kids don’t play GTA games, but they’re not the ones being marketed to and, technically speaking, they shouldn’t be playing the games to begin with.

Not to mention Disney and Marvel have gradually released shorter teaser trailers building up to Doomsday, showcasing some of the characters that will appear, so it’s been consistently generating hype and anticipation.

By comparison, GTA 6’s marketing has been almost non-existent. It’s so far only released two trailers (with still no sign of a third) and has yet to showcase any raw gameplay.

The minimal marketing may have worked in GTA 6’s favour, though, considering it’s outdone the trailers for every other major blockbuster film. Last year’s trailer for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey had ‘only’ 121.4 million views in its first day (per Forbes), while Toy Story 5’s initial teaser earned 142 million views in the same timeframe (per Deadline).

GTA 6 also stands to generate much more revenue than Doomsday, but that’s entirely down to GTA 6 costing £70 to play. Nobody’s paying that much for cinema tickets to see Doomsday, which is another reason why movies remain a bigger draw than games.

If you want to play GTA 6 or any new blockbuster video game, you also need to invest in the hardware. With the standard PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles currently priced at £520 and £450, respectively. Casual gamers aren’t going to put that much money down just to play one or two big releases.

It’s worth noting that GTA 6 no doubt has a much higher budget than Doomsday as well. Rockstar will never officially share that number, but it is reported to cost at least $1 billion to make (about £748 million), with some reports suggesting up to $3 billion.

Doomsday doesn’t have a confirmed budget either, but it’s unlikely to be that high. Avengers Endgame – the last Avengers movie to come out and finale to the original Infinity Saga – cost between $356 to $400 million (£266 to £299 million), so Doomsday will potentially cost about the same or slightly higher.

None of this is to say GTA 6 won’t be a massive success. By revenue it will be the biggest entertainment launch in history, but in terms of bums on seats it’s not going to beat the very biggest movies.

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