The topic Rockstar can charge $100 for GTA VI if it wants, but I can’t forgive what it… is currently the subject of lively discussion — readers and analysts are keeping a close eye on developments.
This is taking place in a dynamic environment: companies’ decisions and competitors’ reactions can quickly change the picture.
It finally happened — Grand Theft Auto VI pre-orders finally went live, and people have been buying copies as if they’ll somehow run out before launch day. I mean no shade, since I’ve done exactly the same thing. It also proves that the old “no gameplay, no pre-order” mantra goes completely out the window when Rockstar Games is involved. But while excitement around the game is expected, the surrounding discourse right now has been fascinating for all the wrong reasons.
People seem to be losing their minds over Rockstar apparently “paywalling” a handful of in-game businesses behind the $100 Ultimate Edition. That does, admittedly, sound strange on paper, but games have been doing variations of this for years now. The more pressing problem, however, isn’t the Ultimate Edition at all. That’s what GTA VI is doing with its so-called physical edition, which I’m afraid, could have much bigger implications for the entire industry.
Why is the biggest game of this console generation not releasing with an actual disc in the physical edition? That’s the question everyone keeps coming back to. Rockstar has confirmed that the boxed version contains nothing more than a digital download code tucked inside the case. It costs exactly the same as every other physical release, but instead of receiving something tangible that actually plays the game, you’re effectively paying for packaging.
What this also does is completely beat the point of Sony selling a detachable disc drive for the PlayStation 5 Slim and the PlayStation 5 Pro in the first place. The latter, in particular, already looks poised to become the best way to experience GTA VI on console, especially since Rockstar has confirmed that the game will be PS5 Pro Enhanced. And yet, if you’re buying a physical copy, that expensive disc drive will still serve no purpose, since there is no disc to insert.
At this point, I could very well print a QR code and put it inside an empty Blu-ray case myself if I wanted to. The physical box still looks nice sitting on a shelf, but that’s hardly what physical ownership has meant for decades. Considering just how huge of a product this game is, and the entire decade of anticipation behind it, it could be argued that shipping the game’s discs prior to launch exposes it to huge risks of leaking, but that could easily be prevented by needing a day-one release patch to unlock the files on the disc itself. Rockstar choosing to do this sets a genuinely terrible precedent, especially because every publisher watches what the industry’s biggest releases get away with.
The whole Ultimate Edition debate shouldn’t even be one. Going through Reddit threads and online discussions on X or Instagram would make you think that Rockstar is selling a complete version of GTA VI, while Standard Edition buyers would receive a stripped-down experience. That’s simply not what’s happening here. It’s not like Standard Edition players won’t have plenty of custom shops, tattoo parlors, hairstyling salons, and businesses to visit throughout Leonida. Rockstar has merely designated one version of a few businesses as Ultimate Edition exclusives.
The $100 Ultimate Edition of GTA VI comes with exclusive access to four in-game stores — Rideout Customs and One-Eyed Willie’s (vehicle mod shops), Sara’s Unisex Salon (hair salon), Stock 305 (clothing store), and Electric Fang Tattoo (tattoo shop).
Now, whether that’s a good monetization strategy is certainly open for discussion, but pretending that Standard Edition buyers are somehow being shortchanged just doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. But isn’t this how premium editions have effectively worked across the AAA industry for well over a decade? Games regularly lock exclusive cosmetics, weapon skins, outfits, vehicles, character styles, side missions, or early unlocks in the Deluxe and Ultimate Editions.
You might not like it — I certainly don’t love the practice — but acting as if GTA VI has invented a brand-new form of anti-consumer monetization feels like outrage for its own sake. If anything, the lion’s share of criticism should go to the fact that the physical version has abandoned physical media altogether.
It doesn’t help that news of GTA VI’s physical box having only a digital code broke the same week Sony decided to delete over 550 movies users had bought on the PlayStation without offering refunds because of licensing issues. The death of physical media has absolutely been an ongoing, slow one, but it certainly hasn’t just started. One could very well argue that the launch of the Digital Edition PlayStation 5 all the way back in 2020 was when it started. Sony even seemed to double down by shipping the PlayStation 5 Pro without a disc drive, forcing anyone with an existing PS4 or PS5 collection to spend even more money on optional hardware just to access games they already owned.
Now, Rockstar has taken the next logical step. Even though consoles still support physical discs and consumers can still buy disc drives, the company has decided not to use them. It has rendered the physical edition little more than a collectible case with a redemption code. That’s a very different message from saying physical media are becoming less popular. It outright says that physical media doesn’t matter to Rockstar.
We didn’t even have to wait for a PS6 or next-gen Xbox to see the repercussions of something that was clearly in the works for a while now — Sony has announced that it’s officially stopping disc production starting 2028. Some say this decision aligns with the purported release date of the PS6. Regardless of whether it does, one thing is clear — the death knell of physical media is well and truly here. Sure, there has been significant backlash online, but it seems Sony has clearly weighed the benefits of making digital-only games available only on the PlayStation Store.
With this development, picking up a $10 copy of Horizon Forbidden West from the bargain bin instead of paying full price at the PlayStation Store will no longer be an option, and that’s exactly where Sony will make the most money come 2028. Of course, the optimists in all of us can hope that the company reverses its decision, but a multibillion-dollar conglomerate reversing a seriously anti-consumer decision sounds a little too optimistic for 2026.
It also comes off the back of Sony shutting down the PS Vita and PS3 stores, meaning those games will now forever be inaccessible to anyone who buys a PS3 off the pre-owned game, unable to add to their collection digitally — a fate that’s all too clearly inevitable for a digital-only PlayStation experience.
It’s also frightening to see how little resistance this decision seems to be facing. If Rockstar Games, arguably the most influential AAA developer on the planet, can sell millions of “physical” copies without shipping a playable disc inside, then it’s only a matter of time before other publishers follow suit. Fast-forward to the next Xbox or PlayStation generation, and it’s not difficult to imagine consoles dropping disc drives entirely, and once again selling an add-on drive we’d have to shell out more money for.
After all, they would become non-negotiable for anyone looking to preserve old collections while every new “physical” release becomes little more than a cardboard box with a neat little download code inside it. That’s a future that genuinely feels like it’s right around the corner, and I absolutely don’t want to keep walking forward.
GTA 6’s release is causing publishers to shift plans, with some hoping it sets a new pricing standard.
Some industry shifts happen gradually, while others arrive attached to a release so enormous that everyone simply accepts the new normal without realizing it. GTA VI definitely feels like one of those moments, and it’s definitely not because of its price or its Ultimate Edition. It’s because millions of players may unknowingly validate the idea that physical ownership is no longer necessary for physical media.
Years from now, we’ll probably look back at GTA VI for redefining open-world games yet again. However, we might also remember it as the largest domino that finally tipped the industry away from discs for good. Once the biggest game in the world proves that publishers can sell physical editions with nothing physical inside it, putting that genie back in the bottle is nigh impossible.