Usually, the go-to method for riding the hype wave involves posting leaks that may or may not be utter hogwash in order to gain 5 minutes of fame, or by mass-posting contrived or outright stolen text in GTA 6-related “articles”. Now, users have reported a fresh, new way to try and scam gullible fans.
First noted by u/LegalWallhacks on r/GTA6, the ad would play before or during YouTube videos if the eldritch machinations of the algorithm deem you the sort of person into this stuff, based on your search history or the kinds of videos you tend to watch. The ad itself is a frankensteinian abomination stitched together with footage from GTA 5, Need for Speed, The Crew, Forza and the Saints Row reboot. It is easy enough to recognize these other games if you dabble in the genre and stay up to date with new and upcoming titles, but GTA 5 and GTA Online have hit such mainstream numbers that many fans don’t really play other games, or follow gaming media and news. Those fans not interested in gaming beyond GTA 5, or younger players, might fall into the trap laid by the ad - however, what makes this situation weird is that getting an ad to play on YouTube means whoever is running it needs to pay. There’s even a minimally altered Rockstar Games logo to lend an air of authenticity, while being changed just enough to dodge direct legal action. What the purpose of this fake ad could be isn’t known, but the options aren’t exactly broad - data collection or funneling viewers towards a specific channel which may not even be about GTA generally seem to be the best bets. Running ads on YouTube would be an expensive game to play just for some cheap laughs. In any case, we don’t expect these fake ads to stick around for long - if we’ve learned one thing over the past few years, it’s that Take-Two Interactive wields their lawyers as weapons that they’re not afraid to use. This scam is going to be a short lived one.
