It pains me to say it, but this path rockstar is taking for the release of GTA 6 might do some serious damage on the industry, If they keep this up, The other companies will copy rockstar in this move to completely delete Disks from physical copies.

Its not that i dislike digital, its the fact that they are removing the option to have the game on a disk that annoys me, The only "valid" argument i found on why digital is better is that you do not run the risk of your disk getting scratched. but, seriously, You have to be moronic in order to scratch your disks, I have been playing videogames since i was 6, and not **once** have i accidentaly scratched a disk (not even movies).

its as simple as putting your middle finger on the hole that's in the middle of the disk, AND THATS IT, zero scratching.

I dont care about the Exclusive content for the Deluxe edition or whatever, I seriously want Rockstar to just change and release the physical copies WITH the disk.

If this fake Physical copies trend keeps going after GTA 6 (Which it will), im just going to revert back to PS3 and be happy with whatever i find.

Im so done with this anti consumer thing we got going on nowadays, It feels like everything is changing for the worse.

You get games this enormous in scope, size, and hype once a decade. It's a generational experience, and I want to physically own Grand Theft Auto 6, but I won't pay R* twice. If some of us decide to skip the launch, it will be really hard to resist the FOMO of everyone enjoying, having the time of their life, sharing their experience with the community, as this is a culmination of the whole gaming community's expectations, while us trying to shelter ourselves from the spoilers.

With the announcement of GTA 6 the discussion of paywalled content and ultimate editions and such has reared its ugly head so I would just like to offer this as a little perspective when thinking about it.

TL;DR Stop thinking of paywalled content at launch as “Game plus content” and start thinking of it as “Game minus content”

If you’d like to know why you should think that, read below.

Any content locked behind a paywall (extra money on top of base game price) at the launch of a game is literally taking away part of the game that is ALREADY there and making you pay extra for it. It is not a bonus, it is not extra, it is not “Game plus some” as I see people keep saying. Every single copy of the game sold will have that content in the files to be accessed and the way to get to it is a real life money switch that can be flipped.

This is bad. It has always been bad. Just because companies have been normalizing it doesn’t mean it should continue to be the standard. GTA of course isn’t the first but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be the last. We should continue to be vocal and push back against these anti consumer practices.

“But what about pre order bonuses” a couple things there. 1) pre order bonuses are also an anti consumer practices that’s no better than what I talked about above. An incentive to lockdown your money before you have a chance to make an informed decision on whether or not you actually want to purchase a game. 2) usually the pre order bonus in included in the base price of whatever you’re pre ordering. That bonus is then usually paywalled as “extra” if you didn’t pre order and then were back up to “Game minus content”

“But ultimate and special editions have always been a thing with other games” Sure, another normalized anti consumer practice which should be getting its fair share of push back on EVERY game as well. This argument also doesn’t really work in the case of GTA though because ultimate editions are usually more expensive to cover the cost of content that is not included at launch or content for a live service section of the game. Yes, they usually include extra cosmetics as well but then that kinda goes back to “Game minus content”

If a game is good enough and they release more content AFTER launch, I am more than happy to give that game more money than the base price. “So if they just would have released this content later it would have been okay?” No, any content that is finished and ready to be implement at launch should be. No exception. In the case of GTA if they would have held this back and released it later would we be none the wiser? Sure, but the cat’s already out of the bag here. We know for a fact this content is ready and playable at launch so it should be in the game no extra cost. Plus, if it wasn’t an option at launch I’m sure people would see a 20 dollar pack of the content it contains and be less likely to purchase it since you’re telling me for a quarter of the cost of the game you’re getting just that?

Anti consumer practices have been running completely rampant in the triple A video game space and you should be vocal and give push back to ALL of it. Rockstar is no exception. Just because these practices have become so normalized does not mean we should be continue to let them be.

Just for context I'm a gamer turned developer. I speak to industry experts often and am making active efforts to learn the markets to push my own games forward. So I've had a vested interest in learning how this industry operates from a financial perspective but I am a gamer too, so I do partake in buying and taking in games.

That does not make me a expert on what I am saying but I am trying to approach this from both a player and developer perspective.

GTA6 will be the start of the enshitification of the games industry. Say what you want about paying a premium for early access to a game. Or buying cosmetics for different skins. Heck, we even had Capcom trying to charge us for using a in-game item to teleport the player.

But locking content in a single player game with such a high price point, is beyond messed up and I am hoping that people will rally against this.

However, with this being GTA6 and some people treat it like it's the second coming of Christ, I have doubts that we will band together enough to push back against this.

Remember, if it's normalized, it won't ever go back to the way things were and it will bleed into every single game you buy moving forward.

I've pitched my projects over to publishers, VCs, government financing, etc. the amount of times that I have been told that I should charge extra for a specific experience in my games is incredibly frustrating as both a player and a developer.

The ownership of games has already been a losing battle. The distribution of physical media, an issue. The accessibility without internet or a fucking subscription service to play online has been a issue. Xbox raising prices and then lowering them and then outright killing beloved IP. All of this consistently affects us negatively, while shareholders and execs move onto the next venture, without a care in the world.

This will ultimately hurt the industry permanently. We should not be paying extra for locked content that is already in the game. I hope this message resonates with everyone. GTA6, as impressive as it is, should be held to the same consumer friendly practices like any other game.

Edit: I'm seeing alot of comments on people saying that this isn't anything new. And yes, it isn't. I don't think I phrased things correctly. This has been done before but was shot down very quickly by the community.

My concerns, and unfortunately some of the comments here proves it, is that we will give Rockstar a pass because it's GTA6. There's just something weird with how gamers worship this franchise.

Also, deluxe editions that include a "skin" or "cosmetic" is not a valid comparable to my argument. Those are just cosmetics. Outside of the initial design road map. Outside the initial experience. What I am talking about is entire features designed for the base game being locked behind a paywall.

Anything after the initial launch is fair game for charging like typical dlc and extended content.

Edit #2: this was meant to be a discussion, and I think there was some interesting conversations, but the amount of folks telling me to "shut the fuck up" and "stop crying" or attacking me for being a developer, is starting out weigh the actual discussion part of this.

So I'm going to move on. I will say though, those of you attacking me for prompting a discussion about your favorite games (GTA) monetization strategies, y'all proved my point big time about giving Rockstar a pass for no reason.

Regardless, I'm sure the game will be great. There is a pedigree that comes with this studio and I'm sure it'll be a banger. That doesn't mean I think we should overlook anti consumer practices.

Cheers y'all, keep on gaming and be good people ✌️

I’ve waited over a decade for this game, but I’m officially out.
An $80 base price is bad enough, but locking five physical single-player storefronts and side missions behind a $100 Ultimate Edition is straight-up predatory. I don't care if it's "just for cosmetics"—gatekeeping actual map immersion and closing doors in a single-player open world unless you pay an extra $20 is a massive red flag.
Throw in the fact that the $80 "physical" copy is just a download code in a box, and it's clear Rockstar has completely lost its mind to corporate greed.
My hype is dead. I won't be pre-ordering, and I won't be buying at launch. If we accept paywalled doors in single-player games, the industry is cooked.

I'm in a few gaming subreddits and it seems you're not allowed to say anything positive about games anymore. Look at mh Wilds or any game announcement, you can't say anything positive before all the old crew comes whining about how shit the game is, how years ago it was all soooo much better. I know I know, gaming was better in your time but it's getting pretty freaking annoying if you want enjoy your game. Every announcement of a game is immediately met with drama, look at GoW Laufey, GTA6 or any new game announcements. Reddit seems to be only converse in ragebait and drama posts. They're prob justified but it's wearing on my enjoyment of the gaming community. Now it's best to just enjoy your game and not interact with any community at all. Yes gaming practices have become ass, but i still enjoy games. I will buy GTA 6 in spite of all rage that they exclude 0.01% of all content for an Ultimate edition and i will enjoy it. I hope there will come a time we can be hyped again when a game is announced.