Press ‘F’ To Pay Respects To Game Discs.
The eventual launch of Grand Theft Auto VI marks a change in the times. While the world will get to experience undoubtedly the most anticipated game of the 21st century, the release will be the first entry in the series to launch without a physical disc.
The decision was made to reduce the possibility of potential game leaks while lowering manufacturing and shipping costs.
While this isn’t the first time a video game has been released solely in digital form, it’s sparked a ton of controversy online, especially since a franchise this big could set a precedent for the rest of the industry.
The ones that will get hit the hardest are gaming stores, which thrive on the trade of physical media, whether that be the newest AAA title or your uncle’s copy of Shrek 2: The Video Game.
With the news, various gaming stores, like Loot Box Gaming, will be boycotting the release, refusing to sell the “physical” copies of GTA VI that only contain digital download codes.
In an X post, they stated: “We will not be supporting the release of GTA 6. When we started LBG, it was out of a love for our favorite form of media, gaming, as well as the preservation of said media. If a product can’t honor the people who pay their hard-earned money to purchase it, then we have no business trying to sell it to our customers.”
This isn’t the first concerning decision Rockstar has made with the upcoming release. The company teamed up with PlayStation to promote the game and subtly push players towards buying newer-generation consoles to play it.
It was later revealed that this subtle push would become a reality when the game launches exclusively for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles, leaving previous-generation systems in the dust.
With a release this anticipated, there’s bound to be criticism of every calibre. Fans have been nitpicking the graphics and every specific technical detail since the first trailer.
So has Rockstar gone too far and altered the future of gaming?
Or should folks get used to the digital age?
