Grand Theft Auto VI Marks the End of Ownership

Since Grand Theft Auto VI was announced, many fans have planned to purchase a physical copy.

Take-Two’s CEO even seemed to encourage physical ownership of the game.

But according to recent reports, the retail edition of this long-anticipated Grand Theft Auto installment will not include a game disc. Instead, customers will receive a download code inside of what resembles a disc box.

For those keeping score at home, the packaging will be physical. The game itself will not.

At first glance, that seems like a trifling matter. After all, most players will just download the files and begin playing exactly as they would have anyway.

And while yes, that transaction feels familiar, it marks a substantial change in the publisher-gamer relationship.

Read the full post on Substack.