Rockstar Sponsors Druski's Ali G Episode to Sell GTA 6, While Xbox Posts the Launch Trailer a Week Late

Rockstar Games almost never buys ads, but GTA 6 just turned up somewhere nobody expected: a comedy show on YouTube. The newest episode of Druski's Coulda Been Records, an OLD HEADS Auditions special co-hosted by Sacha Baron Cohen as Ali G, is "presented by Grand Theft Auto 6 from Rockstar Games," as you can hear in the episode on YouTube. The read reminds viewers that the game launches November 19 and asks them to pre-order the Ultimate Edition now on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

At the same time, Xbox has only just shared the official launch trailer, a full week after PlayStation.

The Druski sponsorship

According to thegta6news, the episode went up at 1am UK time on October 24, and the GTA 6 spot plays about 80 seconds in. The video description also links to the official GTA VI editions page. GTA 6 is the headline sponsor, and SeatGeek and PrizePicks get their own reads later in the episode.

What we know so far:

• Format: a spoken sponsor read plus a pre-order link in the description
• Message: a November 19 release and Ultimate Edition pre-orders on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S
• What's not public: Rockstar and Druski haven't posted about the deal, and the fee hasn't been disclosed

GTA BOOM calls the paid spot "uncharacteristic" for a studio that has usually let its trailers do the selling. The site argues that it fits the plan Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick laid out: a short, intense campaign built around influencers and creator content rather than a long rollout like GTA V's. Druski's audience is young and mainstream and doesn't overlap much with gaming YouTube, so the spot reaches people a normal game trailer would miss.

Part of a much bigger push

The Druski spot is just the newest stunt in a busy month. Rockstar has already put Burger Shot and Cluckin' Bell stands inside Miami's Heat arena, run its first TV ad during the NBA and taken over Miami Beach with Vice City branding. Pre-orders already look strong too: Sensor Tower estimates around 6.45 million digital pre-orders, though that's a third-party figure, not an official one.

Xbox shares the launch trailer, a week late

TheGamer reports that Xbox only just posted the GTA 6 launch trailer, one week after PlayStation, which premiered it on October 15 (our coverage). The outlet points to the obvious reason: GTA 6's marketing deal with Sony. PlayStation's version ends with a custom Vice City outro, while Xbox's ends with the standard Series X|S logo. When TheGamer checked, the Xbox upload had about 2.5 million views against roughly 65 million for PlayStation's.

Microsoft says it isn't worried. TheGamer quotes Xbox strategy chief Matthew Ball, who said Microsoft is "very happy" with GTA 6 pre-orders on its platform, that they match its share of the console market, and that "the title is breaking records for Xbox." Microsoft hasn't released any numbers to back that up.

What's next

• November 12: pre-loading begins on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S (details)
• November 19: GTA 6 launches on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S

With less than four weeks to go, expect more stunts like this one. We'll cover every official GTA 6 marketing beat right up to launch day.