Sony's New 'It Happens On PS5' Campaign Puts GTA VI Front and Centre — With a Slightly Different Look

Sony has launched a new "It Happens On PS5" advertising campaign, and it leans hard into the most anticipated game on the planet: Grand Theft Auto VI.

Unveiled on the PlayStation Blog on August 17, 2026, the one-minute campaign video splices together footage from a slate of upcoming PlayStation 5 titles. GTA VI shares the spotlight with Marvel's Wolverine, God of War Laufey, 007 First Light, Helldivers 2, and Kingdom Come, alongside real-world stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and a high-speed jet ski chase.

The GTA VI moment is brief but notable. The ad reuses a scene from the game's second trailer, released in May 2025, in which the character Jason Duval clings to the back of a convertible driven by Lucia. But the clip looks different this time around. According to GameSpot, the letterboxing — the black bars framing the original cinematic shot — has been removed, widening the image to fill a standard screen. The scene also appears brighter than in Trailer 2, with Lucia sporting browner hair and less pronounced eyebrows.

Whether those changes reflect an actual visual update or simply different mastering for the ad format is not something Sony or Rockstar Games has addressed. The trailer footage was captured months ago, and promotional cuts are routinely adjusted for broadcast and online spots.

The campaign arrives during a packed release corridor for PlayStation. Marvel's Wolverine is scheduled to launch on September 15, 2026, per the PlayStation Blog. GTA VI follows on November 19. A separate "Extended Look" trailer for GTA VI is set to hit Netflix on August 27, giving the game another promotional surface beyond traditional gaming channels.

Sony is backing the digital ad with physical installations. Giant Sentinel heads — the iconic mutant-hunting robots from Marvel's X-Men — are being erected in the UK, Canada, and Spain. Challenge pods themed around Marvel's Wolverine are open in France, and a "Berserker Mode" activation tied to God of War is running in Australia.

This is the second iteration of the "It Happens On PS5" brand campaign. The first launched in November 2025 with segments like "The Greatest Stunt Jump Ever" and "The Unexpected," focused on the spontaneous, shareable moments players experience on the console. A Southeast Asia version followed a day later. The new August 2026 campaign shifts the emphasis from those player moments to the upcoming release calendar itself.

Sony has also been nudging its existing user base toward the PS5 ahead of GTA VI's launch. Emails were sent to PlayStation 4 owners who had wishlisted the game, advising them to upgrade to a PS5 console before release, according to GamesHub. The PS4, released in 2013, will not run GTA VI natively.

For PlayStation, the strategy is straightforward: the biggest third-party release of the year lands on its console in November, and the campaign makes sure the association sticks.