GTA 6 Boss Says Game Discs No Longer “Make Sense” for Major Releases

August 7, 2026, 10:42am

Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has defended the company’s decision not to ship Grand Theft Auto 6 on a disc when it arrives later this year. Back in June, Rockstar finally opened pre-orders for GTA 6, and in the process, revealed that the game would only be available in a digital capacity. While physical copies of the title will still appear at storefronts, they’ll merely include a code for GTA 6 that buyers will then be able to redeem on the PlayStation Store or Xbox Store. Now, in the wake of this divisive move, Zelnick has justified Take-Two’s rationale while indicating that this could become more of the norm in the future.

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Speaking after Take-Two’s latest earnings call, Zelnick asserted that selling GTA 6 on a disc is something that doesn’t “make sense” for buyers. Zelnick explained that over 90% of Take-Two’s games and software are purchased digitally at this point, which has put less of an emphasis on the company to drive sales toward physical media. Pushing this one step further, Zelnick added that game discs aren’t warranted for most major releases anymore, arguing that it’s more “convenient” for players to simply download them.

“Our business is well over 90% digitally distributed,” Zelnick said. “It’s already a digital business. So in certain instances, especially if it’s a big game, discs just — and note I said discs — don’t really make sense for the consumer. Also, in most instances you have to register online to play anyhow. So if you’re already connected, who cares if you download digitally? It’s all the same and it’s much more convenient.”

“It doesn’t mean that we won’t have physical additions now and then,” he continued. “I’m sure we will in the same way that there’s still vinyl in the recorded music business. But in other instances, it just won’t make sense.”

Zelnick’s comments are the latest that show the video game industry is slowly moving away from physical games. PlayStation has led the charge on this front most prominently, as the iconic gaming brand announced in July that it would be doing away with physical games entirely on its platforms beginning in January 2028. This announcement has since been met with widespread backlash, as millions have gone on to stress the importance of physical games and their continued existence.

Perhaps the most common argument against digital-only games is that it leads to buyers not actually owning what they have purchased. Instead of owning an actual game on a disc, consumers are left simply owning a license for a game that can be revoked by the publisher at any point. Countless situations have played out over the past few years where publishers end up delisting or removing access to digital titles in this regard, which could lead to many games becoming completely inaccessible in the future without a physical edition. For Zelnick and many others in the gaming business, however, these concerns don’t seem to matter, as they’re simply looking to increase profits in a way that is easiest for them.

As for Grand Theft Auto 6, the long-awaited sequel will finally come to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S platforms on November 19th. An extended look at the game will also finally be debuting on August 27th, exclusively on Netflix.