Discs may not always be the best choice for the consumer, especially for larger games, according to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick. The remarks came in today’s Q1 2027 earnings call, which also showed GTA 6 —whose physical release won’t have a disc—is bound to make boatloads of money.
When asked about Sony’s controversial move to cease disc production in the coming years, the CEO of Rockstar’s parent company defended the benefits of digital releases, as spotted by Kotaku.
“Our business is well over 90 percent digitally distributed as is,” Zelnick said. “It is already a digital business. So in certain instances, especially if it is a big game, discs—and note I said discs—don’t really make sense for the consumer.”
“Also, in most instances, you have to register online to play anyhow,” he added, “so if you are already connected, like, who cares if you download digitally? It’s all the same, and it’s much more convenient.”
Zelnick doesn’t completely rule out physical/disc editions, “in the same way there’s still vinyl in the recorded music business,” but they will rarely make sense.
At launch, GTA 6′s physical editions won’t contain the disc, instead coming with a game code inside the box. It may eventually get a disc version, but only after the game’s debut.
As a consumer, I’m not exactly thrilled about the CEO of a gigantic company telling me what makes sense for me, especially not after locking some content behind the $100 Ultimate Edition. Some cars, outfits, and even mod shops are exclusive to the bigger price tag.
Sure, we’ve come a long way since the days of “Insert Disc 2” on the PlayStation, but that doesn’t necessarily mean discs shouldn’t have a place in the industry. As Destructoid’s own Andrej Barovic put it, “Physical discs (for consoles) are the last bastion of consumer protection and are genuinely the only way people still have any semblance of ownership over the games they buy.”
GTA 6 is on track to release on Nov. 19, 2026 for the PS5 and the Xbox Series X | S, and fans are eagerly awaiting a new trailer. Rockstar will debut an extended look at the game on Netflix at 2pm CT on Aug. 27, and, as expected, fans aren’t thrilled about the decision. The streaming giant has six hours of exclusivity, after which the trailer will be on YouTube—but if you don’t have a subscription, you might have no alternative but to wait.
