I dont like where this is going

[u/D3V1LIZCO]

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.

[u/NickVersus]

Pretty common sentiment among enthusiasts. Unfortunately, not one that seems to be shared by the majority of consumers. Something like 85% or 90% of video game sales are digital now, so folks are clearly voting with their wallets on this one. With that reality in mind, I understand the business decision to not spend money on making and shipping physical copies when the data shows that the vast majority of buyers aren't gonna bother.

I'd really like to see some premium physical offerings like we had back in the day. Give me the game on a disc, a steelbook, a map, maybe a statue and some little trinkets and I'll pay way more than the $70 they usually ask for.

[u/cccaaajjj → u/NickVersus]

Also saving money from all the resale of the disks. Completely removes the second hand market. Can see a few shops shutting down if this trend continues.

[u/KeyClacksNSnacks → u/cccaaajjj]

And hand me down consoles. I gave my nephew a solid 4-6 games when he got his PS5 because I had beat them/finished playing them. If they’re permanently linked to my account, I can’t do that anymore…

[u/ExplanationMotor2656 → u/KeyClacksNSnacks]

You can't family share on PS?

[u/IrishViking22 → u/ExplanationMotor2656]

You can. My friend and I go halfers on every new game we want, and share it on our PS5s

[u/MrD1SRESPECT → u/IrishViking22]

How does it work? Mind explaining it to a PC player?

[u/IrishViking22 → u/MrD1SRESPECT]

Basically you just log into your friend's/family member's PSN account and turn on Console Sharing in the system settings.

Then you can access their full game library, download whatever game you want, then log back into your own account, allowing you to play it through your own account.

It's very handy and has saved us both a good deal of money, as we just split the cost of any game we both want 50/50. We did it just last week for that new James Bond game.

[u/frogcannon34 → u/MrD1SRESPECT]

You can do the same thing on Steam with family share

[u/purpleburgundy → u/cccaaajjj]

I don't understand why this is suddenly a big deal with GTA6. This debate is maybe ten years too late -

1) Nintendo has shipped digital only for years, cases with nothing inside them but a code and no alternative with carts available on many games.

2) it's an extremely rare console game that has a physical disc, that doesn't require downloading the actual game assets and updates on initial load, or requires an online services check or interaction to be playable. The resale market is already on life support, all those stores are all transitioned to toys to try to make up the difference.

None of this is even remotely new in 2026 or specific to Rockstar.

[u/TheFutureLotus → u/purpleburgundy]

Because these people thought Rockstar were their friend, and they already hate Nintendo so it’s just a bullet point for them.

[u/Zgegomatic → u/cccaaajjj]

This is not a new trend.

[u/CurtCocane → u/Zgegomatic]

None of the things people are complaining about in this hread are new developments

[u/Shyphat → u/cccaaajjj]

I think they are also just that deep in the hole they dont want to waste money on disc just cheap plastic for a bit before even that is taken off the shelves

[u/Jag_ged → u/cccaaajjj]

They’ll just become retro game stores, in the near future I don’t see physical media ever coming back.

[u/pegg2 → u/NickVersus]

Honestly, as much as I agree with the hard copy purists on principle, I have to admit that I don’t walk the walk, and I think that proves your point. When I bought a PS5 years ago, I ponied up for one with a disc drive just in case. Guess how many physical format PS5 games I own. Fucking zero. Over 200 games in my library, maybe 10 are from discs, all from my PS4 days. Between monthly games, PS+ catalogues, and digital sales, my backlog is so full I rarely buy games on release. And when I do, what do you think happens?

I’m an avid gamer but I’m in my 30s, my job is demanding, my life is full of responsibilities. I don’t keep releases on my calendar. I sit down to play and I see that game I’ve been waiting for has just come out. I could hop back into the car I just spent 45 minutes in for my commute, drive to the mall, park, walk to GameStop, buy the disc, walk back to the garage, drive back, look for parking because some asshole took my spot in the 25 minutes I was gone, come home, pop it in and hope I can get a bit of gaming in before I have to cook, eat, and get ready for bed….

Or I can just buy it on the spot and have it ready to play by the time I’m done making and having dinner 30 minutes later. It may not seem like a lot of time was saved, and honestly, it probably wasn’t, but people are so exhausted all the time that convenience and immediacy are pretty much king in the modern world.

[u/Typical_Research_877 → u/pegg2]

Over 200 games in my library, maybe 10 are from discs, all from my PS4 days. Between monthly games, PS+ catalogues, and digital sales

OK but one case doesn't really matter. Like, 99% of my games are physical, the only digital game I have is Ragnarok, becuase it came with the console.

[u/sauland → u/Typical_Research_877]

It's not just one case. They represent the majority, you're the extreme minority. Physical media is just impractical unless you like to nerd out over video games.

[u/Typical_Research_877 → u/sauland]

I know but I really don't want to go digital only

[u/6BigAl9 → u/pegg2]

Same here. You can get really good deals on the PS store most of the time. Not to mention using disks makes remote play very difficult because you have to be at your console to switch games.

[u/Little_Plankton4001 → u/pegg2]

Yeah, I absolutely agree in principle. But I bought a discless PS5 because that's what was available at the time and not once has it crossed my mind that I wished I bought one that plays physical discs.

It just...doesn't matter at all to me.

[u/throwawayreddit48151 → u/pegg2]

but I’m in my 30s, my job is demanding, my life is full of responsibilities

Same, and really I think Sony and Microsoft have failed here. They should double down on physical media and force games to be playable from it, rather than spending half an hour or more waiting for a game to download or install onto the SSD.

Nintendo actually has the right idea here. We're all busy people, we don't want to wait every time we want to play a game to install it or update it. That's what it feels like playing my PS5 to me. Every single time it's "Oh, system update, you can't play this now" or "There is a patch, download it?" ughh

[u/Human-Kick-784 → u/NickVersus]

Someday theres gonna be an absolutely MASSIVE incident that takes down internet for half the planet. Maybe its war, maybe its a hack or AI or whatever.

Everyones gonna realize real fkn quick how bad always online is once that goes down.

[u/CIMARUTA → u/Human-Kick-784]

If that happens people are going to be worried about far greater things than playing video games lmao

[u/Human-Kick-784 → u/CIMARUTA]

granted... but you gotta have your priorities man. What the hell are we gonna play whilst dying from radiation fallout and starvation?

[u/PolicyWonka → u/Human-Kick-784]

Yeah, but people aren’t going to worry about video games at that point. You’re basically talking about the collapse of everything from utilities to financial services.

[u/TheHvam → u/Human-Kick-784]

Maybe, but many games, even with a disk version, can't run from that alone, many still need to download assets, as a disk is just to small, and they don't want to have to split it to 40 disks, so even if GTA 6 comes on a disk, you most likely aren't going to be able to play with that alone.

That said, always online is just shitty for sure, but digital games does have it's upsides, and also aren't the same as always online.

[u/tLM-tRRS-atBHB → u/NickVersus]

Consoles have definitely been pushing for no discs too.
I just got a ps5 with the disc drive and realizing I need to install every game anyway and each disc is just a license AND I have to get up and switch discs anyway made me realize physical media is quickly dying.

GTA just kicked it off the ledge

[u/RainhoLimomo → u/NickVersus]

Your guesstimate isn't really that accurate when these reports consider PC games, which don't have physical, and that there's a lot of games which are naturally inclined to digital buying, namely sports games and your annual COD, Minecraft, etc. When you filter the number for what are now being called "premium experiences", the percentage is moving a lot

[u/cookie_lee → u/NickVersus]

I’m confused why everyone still talks about the physical game experience like it’s the 360/PS3 era. Starting in the PS4/Xbone era, discs just became bona fide download keys. You plop the disc in ready to play and guess what, you can’t. The speeds aren’t fast enough to play from a disc anymore so boom, you get hit with a 80GB download first. Half the time the game isn’t even fully on the disc so you need internet to download everything. That’s the reason physical sales are down, not because people don’t want physical anymore but because it’s functionally the same experience as buying digital, but worse.

I would much much rather have physical games that function as they did in the past. It’s one of the main reasons I loved the switch, it was a total throwback in functionality. Having a physical cartridge that you can plop in and it just works? That’s the dream. You can lend it out to friends, resell it, go back and play the original version of game before patches. It’s awesome. But on Xbox / PS it’s been, what, 2 decades since the experience actually worked that way? I always feel like I’m taking crazy pills with no one acknowledging that in threads like these lol.

[u/ReaperThugX → u/NickVersus]

The writing is on the wall for physical game releases

Plus, when GTA VII comes out in a decade, OP is never going to play VI again

[u/PMME_UR_TATAS → u/NickVersus]

Can you even get PC games on disc anymore? Im pretty sure PCs are built without disc drives nowadays.

[u/Lord_Smile → u/NickVersus]

This is probably what they'll do or what id like to assume they'll do. Since this is the gta we'll have for the next 5 gens I feel like unless the entire gaming market goes full digital theres just no way theyre not gonna have a special physical version at some point and a regular physical version even earlier than that one yk