When pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto 6 went live on Thursday, gamers who had hoped to slot a disc into their console were left staring at a box that contains nothing but a code.
Developer Rockstar Games confirmed that the physical edition of one of the most anticipated titles in entertainment history will not include a disc – just a digital download voucher. The standard edition costs £70 and the premium edition £90, according to Rockstar.
“Rockstar confirms GTA 6 physical edition will contain a download code, not a disc.”
“My initial reaction was one of confusion and shock,” said Ben, a 24-year-old UK gamer who covers GTA news on social media under the handle ‘videotech’. His surprise was compounded by earlier assurances from Strauss Zelnick, chief executive of Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two. In an interview with Variety in February, Zelnick said a digital-only launch was “not the plan”. Ben said that statement had led many to hope a physical disc would be available at launch – and for reasons beyond sentiment.
“An important benefit of owning a disc is that you can lend the game to a friend or sell it later,” he said. That option is now gone: online retailers selling the physical edition have stated that, as with other digital game codes, the one for GTA 6 is single-use and will become invalid after it is redeemed.
Rockstar is not the first to ship a box without a disc, but the decision from the maker of one of the biggest franchises in history raises the question of whether the disc is dead. Digital sales already account for the vast majority of game revenue, and online stores such as Steam for PC and the PlayStation Store have been around for years. The rise of consoles without physical disc drives is accelerating the trend.
“More than half of all Xbox Series consoles in the US don’t have a physical drive, while over a quarter of PS5’s are the same,” posted Mat Piscatella, senior director and video game industry advisor at market research firm Circana.
For some gamers, the news felt like less of an upset. “I’m pretty much all digital these days, I download most of my games directly onto my console,” Alogirlx, a gaming content creator from Canada, told the BBC’s What in the World podcast. “Whether there’s a physical disc or not it doesn’t really change anything for me.”
With physical game sales at an all-time low, the disc’s obituary may already be written – and GTA 6 has just pushed it further towards the grave.