As soon as pre-orders opened for GTA 6, controversy ensued. Folks immediately started complaining about how there’s no actual physical version of the game, with only a box and a code available for purchase. This went so far as to have a good chunk of retailers refusing to even sell these “physical” copies due to their lack of anything, well, physical.
But as we wrote previously, Rockstar Games’ own support appeared to dispel these sentiments, saying that actual physical copies will become available “in the coming months,” likely after release to prevent accidental leaks tied to pre-loads. However, a new report cites internal Rockstar sources that say no physical discs will ever come out, not before or after release.
That is according to Wccftech (via The Hollywood Reporter), which claims a credible source said that “there are no plans for GTA 6 discs to be printed” either on release or at any point afterward. This contradicts Rockstar Games’ own words, as noted above, and completely muddies the water regarding a potential disc version of GTA 6.
The report clarifies how this is only to be expected given how rapid of a decline physical media has seen in the last two decades or so, but I have a feeling they are looking at the effect rather than the cause.
Publishers have been moving away from physical media as much as possible because it simply makes video game distribution cheaper. Logistics are far easier, and handling a global audience is offloaded to digital platforms like Steam and PlayStation rather than the publisher themselves. Since publishers are producing less physical media, the medium simply died off, or rather, is slowly on the way out.
It’s not as if people suddenly up and decided to stop purchasing physical media, especially considering how popular the disc version of the PlayStation 5 is and how controversial the idea of a digital-only console was, despite the latter being a tad cheaper. Sony even released a separate disc drive to sell to PS5 Pro users. People love owning what they buy, especially if it means they can resell it and, essentially, play their games for dirt cheap.
So I’m not buying the idea that, because physical media are less popular than before, suddenly publishers are “reasonable” in opting out of them. They caused the problem and are now using it as an excuse. Simple as.
