The pre-orders for GTA VI are FINALLY here! After what has seemed like the better part of forever, players and gamers all around globe can at long last pre-order their copy of the most anticipated video game in well over a decade, if not of all time! With all this momentum and hype that has been building since GTA V came out in 2013, you would think that the release of GTA VI could redefine pop culture in a way that hasn’t been seen since at least Avengers: Endgame in 2019. Even with all the chaos and mayhem that is going on in the world in the year 2026, you would expect that Rockstar Games would be doing everything in their power to make GTA VI the biggest and most unifying moment in gaming history. And now that we have pre-order sales that is well underway, what could POSSIBLY go wrong?! Well, quite a lot actually!
Earlier this week, Rockstar announced that GTA VI would be getting two separate additions: the standard edition for $79.99 & the ultimate edition for $99.99. It was also stated that the game would received both digital and “physical” editions (there’s a reason I put the latter with parenthesis. You’ll find out why in just a moment!). The digital edition gives you the option between the main standard edition, which unlocks the main campaign of the game, and the ultimate edition, which gives you access to in-game clothing, hairstyles, locations, missions, tattoos, vehicles, and weapons, while all preorders receive theĀ Vintage Vice City Pack, featuring in-game items inspired by GTA: Vice City. Both versions you can begin downloading on November 12th, in preparation for the game’s full release on November 19th. However, the physical edition doesn’t include a separate ultimate edition of the game but only the standard edition+ a few pre-order bonuses that come with it.
Oh, and although it comes with it’s own case that includes the box art on the cover, you only get a downloadable code in it and NOT a disc!
In case you need that last part read out loud to you, here you go again! The physical edition will NOT include a disc of the game, ONLY a downloadable code for it! You just heard me right there, right?!
Once again, the most anticipated video game of all time will NOT have a disc of what is suppose to be part of the PHYSICAL edition of the game, ONLY a mere code you can start downloading a week in advance but have to wait seven days to actually being able to play the damn game. And if recent reports by The Hollywood Reporter are anything to go by, this is how Rockstar Games is choosing to release GTA VI, with NO plans on releasing a full disc version of the game at launch or even after it once the hype dies down.
To repeat that one more time, GTA VI will NOT have an actual physical disc! Despite this being one of the most hyped games of all time, despite this being in production for God knows how long, and despite all of the goodwill and momentum from the people at Rockstar, there will not be an actual disc that will come with GTA VI!
And keep in mind, this is NOT a game that is from an unknown property or that nobody knows if it’s going to be a big hit or not. EVERYONE is going to get this game! It will sell like HOT CAKES! It’s already making hundred to millions or even billions in pre-order sales ALONE! (It’s said to have already made over $3 billion dollars in pre-sales, with over 39 million copies already pre-ordered!)
No matter how much money Rockstar threw at this game, it is almost CERTAINLY going to make all it’s revenue back in the first week ALONE! You seriously mean to tell me you couldn’t afford to or have the human decency to release a REAL physical edition of a game that will likely go down as the most successful video game release of all time?! I’m calling bull and I’m calling s**t!
And I’m sure someone is gonna come at me with the two main excuses I keep seeing everywhere in regards to this dreadful business decision. Firstly, NO, this is NOT because there won’t be enough spaces on the discs. You can EASILY make MULTIPLE discs to give many different modes of the game the extra spaces that it needs. You can have one disc for the campaign, one disc for the bonus/DLC missions of the game, and one disc for GTA online ALONE! You can certainly use three discs to cover ALL of that and more while making the game function just fine. While updating each one would be a mild annoyance and a bit of patience, it would be worth it just as long as the game still plays strongly.
And secondly, NO, this is NOT done in order to prevent early leaks of the game. Even taking into the fact that game has been facing leaks for over the past FIVE years, everyone is going to get this game regardless of what gets spoiled online. While I’m sure there are plenty of people that will be invested in the main campaign and what happens to our two main leads in Lucia and Jason, there’s MANY that play GTA for two other main reasons: to interact with their friends through the online mode and to just f**k s**t up whenever they feel like it (I can’t tell you how many hours I wasted on GTA V just blowing stuff up and shooting people just to get to five stars!). You really expect me to believe that a game THIS massive could lose all that money in pre-sales just because a couple of spoilers got leaked online early?! Of course not!
The real reason for this cynical move is yet again modern gaming developers wanting to take ownership out of the hands of gamers everywhere and making it to where THEY can control the new games that you play. All you have to do is look at all of the unlockable content that you can only get at launch if you chose to buy the $100 version and NOT the $80 version and the fact that you will not be able to own a proper disc of the game, only a mere downloadable code. Do you really think this move was made in regards to just preventing leaks and reduce reselling? I think you know the answer to that question and so do I!
This all leads to a dark and haunting road that the gaming industry is headed in, where physical media is on it’s way out and that the only way to purchase a game is through digital. And I’m sure those out there that are not a physical media collector and prefers to buy their games through online shops and services such as PlayStation Plus, Xbox Gaming Pass, and Nintendo E-shop, you might wonder what the big deal is? After all, the majority of games nowadays are purchased through digital media and NOT physical. It’s just a change in the times we’re living in and is the industry evolving in ways that we just can’t go back to. Well, to those people, I should also share a story that broke out about Sony deleting over 500+ movies from PlayStation service through customer accounts.
That’s right! Just a few days ago, Sony had deleted over 551 movies from player accounts and they are all gone from their services forever. Regardless of if you paid full prices for it or not, those movies you purchased through PlayStation are gone and there’s NOTHING you can do about. You can’t get a refund for it or some version of that movie back. That is just 20 to 30 bucks or however much you purchase on digital movies flushed down the drain and you have nothing. And if you think gaming companies won’t fall into those footsteps and decide to take digital games off their services whenever they want to, I got a bridge to sell to you.
Granted, there have been MANY different occasions in the past where a company would respond to backlash of consumers whenever they pull a very cynical move that’s all for business and greed and they would eventually change course to satisfy their consumers. For example, when the Xbox One originally was showcased in 2013 and promised baffling stuff like online check-ups, DRM restrictions, and preventing you from actually fully owning their games or sharing them with your friends and family, the players lashed out and demanded better from Xbox. And guess what? They GOT it! Microsoft eventually caved and removed all of that crap they were trying to forced down everybody’s throats with the Xbox One. If a company feels like controversy is so overwhelming that it’s gonna tank their brand, they will pull a complete 180 and changed what they can to avoid any potential major losses.
Unfortunately, I don’t see Rockstar making that exact decision here. The main reason being that you already have millions upon MILLIONS of gamers out there that are going to buy GTA VI no matter what! As I mention, it has already sold over 40 million copies and made over 3 billion dollars in pre-sales ALONE! Unless there is a strong desire for the majority that pre-order game to just cancel all of their pre-orders to make a statement to Rockstar that is not acceptable, I don’t see any major changes happening. Even with the reports of many stores that refuse to sell GTA VI because the physical versions won’t include a disc, they can EASILY make up for any potential lose revenues with the $80-$100 price tags through digital. It’s business, greed, and capitalism at it’s absolute finest and Rockstar can EASILY get away with it.
For those that are digital collectors with their movies, shows, songs, books, and games that they buy, I do hope this is a least one giant WAKE-UP call for you to start taking physical media a little more seriously. Because as it’s been said many times before, you buy something with a full disc, it will 100% belong to you FOREVER! No ifs or buts about it! That’s why I and many others out there act in complete horror at this story. The horror that we are losing our ownership and security over the things we buy. The horror that a company can EASILY take something you already bought away from you whenever they feel like that. The horror that just the mere though of being able to physically own a copy of your favorite movie, show, song, book, and video game is slipping away with every single passing day.
That’s why there has been a stronger push for physical media in recent years. That’s why you are hearing reports about Gen Z beginning to abandon digital and streaming altogether because they actually like to physically own the things they love. Whenever people buy something, they want to be able to own it until the end of time. They don’t want to spend so much money on something with the thought of it getting taking away from them someday. Physical media matters and I don’t think there has been a recent example that showcases that more than with GTA VI.
The only positive I can possibly get out of the way Rockstar has completely BUTCHERED the release of GTA VI is maybe this will finally be a wake-up call for everyone to take physical media seriously. Perhaps this will empower players and gamers all across the world to invest more in physical media than ever before with the video games they buy. If Gen Z is making a statement that they want physical media to still be a thing, the rest of the world should join together with them for that exact same reason.
My advice to everyone is whenever there’s a new game, movie, book, or album that comes out and there’s an option for a physical copy of it, invest in the physical copies more times than not. Send a message to companies that we will no longer tolerate the complete erasure of physical ownership and demand that they give us the full and complete version of what they are selling. If not, then stop buying from them altogether until they can promise not to scam us and gives us everything they are selling.
This might legit be the final stand to preserve whatever future of physical media remains but let’s NOT go out without a fight. Even in the age of physical media is over, let’s preserve what we can so we can lead to some sort of future where physical media still remains a thing and will ALWAYS be an option. Digital media will always have it’s place but physical media will ALWAYS be timeless. And unless Rockstar is able to get that exact memo before November, GTA VI will be dead on arrival for many players out there!
On the plus side, three cheers for Insomniac to actually given Marvel’s Wolverine…..an actual disc!
Adam's Blog 