With Grand Theft Auto 6, arguably the biggest and most mass market game of the generation, skipping a disc-based launch — is physical media now dead?
The rise of digital as the most common form of game ownership began long ago, but certain mass market titles — the Call of Dutys, the FIFAs of the world — have resisted that trend to some degree. These are games played by an enormous audience who still might look for a copy in their local entertainment outlet, or expect to pick it up at a superstore alongside their grocery shopping. These are games like GTA.
Grand Theft Auto 6
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Of course, GTA 6 will still have a physical version, but only a digital download code printed inside. This means that anyone who buys GTA 6 in a box will still need an internet connection, and won’t be able to start playing early. It also means you won’t be able to trade in the game or sell it on to someone else.
Will Rockstar killing off disc-based copies of GTA 6 prompt other video game publishers to do the same? Or should we be thinking about this the other way around — that Rockstar is simply reacting to the existing state of the industry, where disc-based sales are in the minority when compared to digital downloads? IGN surveyed a range of top industry analysts for their thoughts on the move — and where video games go next.
“The decline in physical video game spending has been ongoing for more than a dozen years at this point,” Circana senior director and analyst Mat Piscatella began, laying out how dominant digital downloads are now. “Both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series are now heavily weighted towards digital distribution (Xbox Series more so than PlayStation 5), with that digital shift having continued to grow over time. I see this as just another step in a trend that has been ongoing since the early 2010s.
“There is clearly a group of players that would prefer owning physical media with the game being included on disc. [But] in the U.S. as of the end of May 2026, more than half of all Xbox Series consoles sold to date do not include a physical media drive, with PlayStation 5 digital hardware SKUs accounting for just over a quarter of all PS5 console sales to date.”
“While digital accounts for the majority of sales, the remaining 20% still accounted for 70 million physical disc games sold on PlayStation last year (although this figure is slightly inflated by bundled software),” added Daniel Ahmad, director of research and insights at Niko Partners, who suggested that other publishers were likely already considering dropping discs.
“Having a retail presence is still important, especially for large games with broad appeal,” Ahmad continued. “However, there’s a difference between having a ‘retail presence’ and having a ‘physical disc sold at retail.’ Going forward, given increased digital adoption and push for higher margins, more publishers will conclude they only need the former.
“Having a code instead of a disc is becoming increasingly commonplace,” agreed Piers Harding-Rolls, games industry analyst at Ampere Analysis. “This just follows an existing trend rather than necessarily prompting publishers to follow Rockstar’s approach.”
Analysts that IGN spoke to pointed to the various likely motivations behind Rockstar’s move that will be equally attractive to other publishers as well. Most obvious is the fact this decision removes the cost of manufacturing a disc (or several, if the game required a large enough installation). So, each copy of the game is cheaper to manufacture, with more of its revenue freed up as profit. “Removing the disc from the box is indeed a cost saving measure for publishers,” Ahmad noted, “doubly so for a game like Grand Theft Auto 6 that may need to ship on multiple discs.”
Beyond this, the ability to control the game’s price (and not get undercut by second-hand sales) is also a crucial factor, Rhys Elliot, head of market analysis at Alinea Analytics told IGN. Selling a code in a box ensures Rockstar is “killing the second-hand market,” Elliot said, and able to fully control when and where it is eventually sold at a discount.
“The whole value proposition of a physical disc, from the player’s side, is the pre-owned and rental markets: more control over your library, the ability to sell a game on or rent it cheaply,” Elliot said. “But more control for consumers means less control for the publisher. A disc can be resold or rented a hundred times, and Rockstar earns nothing after that first sale. A code-in-box can’t be resold or rented, which converts all of that into either a fresh full-price sale or no play at all, both of which suit Rockstar far better than a thriving used market.
“The bigger prize hiding inside that, though, is price control. Physical pricing is more elastic and far more beholden to supply and demand, which is why pre-owned discs routinely undercut PlayStation’s and Xbox’s digital stores. As long as cheap second-hand copies exist, they set a price floor Rockstar can’t control and they give every player a permanent ‘just wait and buy it used’ option. Remove the disc and Rockstar and the platforms own the entire price curve, including how high they hold the price and how slowly they ever discount it. That ties directly into the pricing discipline we’ve seen elsewhere, holding a price for months with minimal discounting only works if there’s no used market quietly undercutting you. Rockstar wants to set its own prices, and disc-less is how you get there.”
Having no physical discs loaded with game data will also help with “Rockstar’s near-pathological secrecy” Elliot continued, ensuring game data only unlocks at launch, meaning no damaging early leaks from copies “lost off the back of a truck.” GTA 6 has already seen one major pre-launch leak, and with fans poring over every last snippet of information about the game, it’s easy to see why Rockstar also wants to keep control over every last detail.
“Commercially it just makes sense in terms of cost of goods to go digital code only in a physical case – it’s the best of both worlds to an extent – get exposure to the retail buyer but at a lower cost,” Harding-Rolls affirmed. “I’m sure that will be disappointing for some players, but it’s possible there will be a Collector’s Edition to come nearer to launch.”
Joost van Dreunen, a video game industry researcher and professor at the NYU Stern School of Business, suggested that Rockstar would eventually launch a more expansive physical offering in the form of a Collector’s Edition — though whether this also included a disc is another matter. Many Collector’s Editions now don’t include a copy of the game at all, allowing them to be purchased separately without the need to worry about manufacturing different versions with discs for each platform.
“Take-Two excels at upselling its fanbase and I have no doubt it will soon also announce a Collector’s Edition for GTA 6 that costs significantly more,” van Dreunen said. “The same cohort of adults spending thousands on LEGO sets, custom PC rigs, and in-person experiences will have no trouble spending on a franchise that arguably defined their generation. Physical expressions will be absolutely central to that.” Whether those physical versions still contain a disc, though, seems less likely than ever.
Yesterday, we polled analysts on whether GTA 6’s $80 price point had opened the door to more expensive games — here’s what they said.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
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