GTA 6 won’t launch with a disc in the box, but instead a digital download code. In its recent earnings call, Take-Two Interactive delivered the update we all dreaded.
Today, Take-Two Interactive addressed its shareholders, the day after it was announced that GTA 6 is getting an Extended Look via Netflix later this month. Fan reactions to that news were a mixture of excitement and disappointment, as locking a reveal behind a subscription service is pretty irritating. However, the backlash was nowhere near as severe as when it was confirmed earlier this year that physical editions of GTA 6 would feature a code-in-box rather than a disc.
Many turned to today’s earnings call for a comment on the backlash, but it wasn’t news we wanted to hear.
“Discs Don’t Really Make Sense for the Consumer”
As shared by multiple outlets, Take-Two’s CEO Strauss Zelnick defended the company’s decision during a Q&A session. “Our business is well over 90% digitally distributed,” Zelnick said. “It’s already a digital business. So in certain instances, especially if it’s a big game, discs just — and note I said discs — don’t really make sense for the consumer”.
Zelnick continued: “Also, most instances you have to register online to play anyhow. So if you’re already connected, who cares if you download digitally? It’s all the same and it’s much more convenient”.
Comparing Discs to Vinyl Records
Zelnick acknowledged that physical media isn’t going away entirely, but suggested it will become a niche product, much like vinyl records in the music industry. “That doesn’t mean that we won’t have physical additions now and then, I’m sure we will in the same way that there’s still vinyl in the recorded music business. But in other instances, it just won’t make sense”.
Digital Dominance by the Numbers
The numbers back up Zelnick’s position. According to industry analyst Daniel Ahmad, physical games made up only around 2% of Take-Two’s revenue this quarter, and 3% for the last full fiscal year. This includes DLC and microtransactions, but it demonstrates just how digital-oriented the company has become.
During the same earnings call, Take-Two revised its Fiscal 2027 net bookings forecast from $8 billion to $8.2 billion, driven largely by the excitement around Grand Theft Auto VI. Pre-orders for the game have been described as “astonishing” and “unprecedented”.
GTA 6 Fan Backlash Continues
The debate between physical vs digital has come about after Sony announced it’d end disc production from 2028 onwards. At Sony’s earnings call, the CFO said the decision had been “cautiously” considered, and will be executed “cautiously” regardless of what consumers think of it. PlayStation has even started putting warning labels on PS5 boxes explaining the disc situation.
The UK’s Digital Entertainment and Retail Association (ERA) called Sony’s decision “a triumph of corporate convenience over consumer choice”. Backers of physical media have called on gamers to boycott PlayStation for a week in August to send a message.
Zelnick: Security Was Not the Reason
Some had speculated that the decision to skip discs was motivated by concerns over leaks — a way to prevent copies from being “lost off the back of a truck” before launch, as has happened with other major titles. However, when asked directly by IGN whether leak prevention factored into the decision, Zelnick responded with a firm “No”. “We wanted to do what was right for the project,” he said.
A Future Without Discs?
So, GTA VI definitely won’t be released on disc. It also sounds like equally massive projects from Rockstar Games won’t be released on discs either, given Zelnick’s framing of big games as the very category where discs “don’t make sense”. Sad news for those hoping another Red Dead Redemption game is on the way next.
That being said, Zelnick did leave the door slightly open for a potential disc release at some point in the future. “I wouldn’t rule out anything at this stage of the game,” he told IGN. “What we’ve announced so far is what we’re doing at the moment, but we are always open minded”.
It’s not great news, but unfortunately it’s news most gamers will have expected given recent events.
Now all eyes are on Xbox, which is yet to confirm whether its next-gen console will be digital-only, or support existing disc collections.
Also, Read
- GTA 6 Trailer 3 Hype Boils Over Again as Rockstar Games Begins to Stir
- GTA 6 Standards Raised as Ex-Rockstar Dev Breaks Down Why It’s ‘The King’ of Open-World Gaming
- GTA 6 Map Surfaces in GTA Online in First Instance of Rockstar’s ‘Creative’ Marketing
The future of gaming is looking increasingly bleak. We’ve seen the damage digital-only games can do to consumers, such as the recent Xbox blackout, and many are planning to start voting with their wallets to show their disdain. Others are weighing up other options, such as moving their gaming experience to PC. However, even that is looking like a rough option given the increasing cost of components.