随着 GTA VI 临近，广告主正在制定一套策略，以借势这波热潮

The release of Grand Theft Auto VI is gearing up to be the Super Bowl of gaming, and advertisers are looking to soak up some of the excitement.

As GTA VI’s November 19 release date approaches, all eyes are on Rockstar Games open-world action game — and where eyeballs go, advertisers follow. Although the studio is infamous for avoiding real-world product placement in its games — an approach confirmed by Strauss Zelnick, the chief executive of Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two Interactive, earlier this year — that doesn’t mean brands can’t get involved in creative ways. Much like non-sponsoring brands tie themselves to the Super Bowl with “Big Game” language and other tactics to avoid infringing on the NFL’s trademarks, marketers are actively developing a playbook to implicitly or indirectly connect their brands with GTA VI.

Instead of pursuing full campaigns built around the release of GTA VI, many advertisers are seeking proximity to the launch moment through digital media opportunities like sponsored streamer playthroughs and contextual stream overlays or ads. With GTA content dominating the airwaves on platforms like Twitch and Kick, livestreaming represents a key opportunity for brands to tap into the hype.

The streaming technology company InStreamly has been reaching out to its clients in the lead-up to the launch of GTA VI to encourage them to plan for the cultural moment. The company developed interactive formats tailored to the game, including overlays that automatically detect gameplay moments and trigger relevant ads, such as showing an ad for a car brand while a streamer drives a car in-game, as well as interactive chat overlays allowing viewers to vote on the streamer’s next move. 

“In Germany, we’re approximating around 300 to 500 active streamers will be streaming GTA VI, so with messaging is that GTA-adjacent, you can have scalable reach in many different communities, instead of being in one gameplay video,” said InStreamly co-founder and chief marketing officer Wiktoria Wójcik in an interview with GamesBeat. 

Although some advertisers have concerns around the brand safety implications of showing up alongside Grand Theft Auto’s depictions of violence and crime, Wójcik said advertising to players of the game was an opportunity for brands to be “bold, brave, and culturally relevant.”

“If you want to reach people who are 18 and over, or 25 and over, you cannot expect them to play PG-13 games; they’re going to be playing GTA” she said. “There are of course brands that we don’t even go to with these ideas, because we know that they are very strict, but it depends on the brand.”

Even for brands that aren’t showing up directly alongside GTA VI gameplay, the game’s launch presents a key opportunity to reach new audiences. For example, the gaming tech media company Livewire is helping some of its clients step up their advertising efforts across gaming websites and other digital media that will get a traffic boost from GTA VI news, guides, and walkthroughs.

“We are using the power of our Gamer.ID product to essentially look at how big that audience is going to be and surround it,” said Livewire vice president Pete Basgen in an interview with GamesBeat. “We have a very concrete understanding of where people buying and actively playing the game in the launch window are going to be when they aren’t playing the game, so we’ve built a packaged opportunity for brands that want to activate across those spaces.”

Branded content partnerships with creators represent another opportunity for advertisers to get in on the action surrounding GTA VI — but a more nuanced and challenging opportunity than the more scalable digital media buys outlined above. Although creators and creator collectives like the Vanoss Crew are gearing up for major content pushes around the big release — and are open to sponsorship deals tied to these plans — they are confident that their GTA content will already be lucrative, with or without sponsorship support.

“A lot of creators are really focused on, ‘hey, I want to create the best content that I can create for my community around this marquee moment, and I don’t want to be constrained by a potential brand coming in and telling me I can’t do certain elements of the game because of the sensitivities,’” said Chris Mann, the senior vice president of the agency rEvolution, in an interview with GamesBeat. “Smart brands will understand that, in lieu of those opportunities, there are really exciting opportunities out there for brands to capitalize on this GTA moment without creators.”

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