Video Games Plus, a gaming retailer based out of Canada, and an independent gaming retailer known as Loot Box Gaming have both stated that they won’t be selling GTA 6.
Not huge retailers in the grand scheme of things, but interesting to see at least some taking a stand especially when they are almost certainly losing out on money by doing so.
Retailers should know that selling this is a poison pill. If no disc launches become the norm, then retailers will no longer serve a purpose in the industry.
They’ve been trying to kill the second hand market for decades and this release is the biggest threat to it yet.
Yep. Nevermind the fact that the second hand market is fantastic advertising for the companies and the quality of their games, and a surefire way to manufacture future customers.
I cant tell you how many brand new games I bought over the years, because I picked up a previous release used.
Hell, Final Fantasy is a fine example… I got FF4 used from a garage sale… which lead to me buying 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15… some of those games multiple times for new platforms.
One used game, translated into additional sales of almost every game that followed.
They don’t want the secondhand market. There’s no tangible profit there. They don’t want you to buy games. There’s tangible profit there only once. They want you to subscribe. They want recurring payments whether you use it or not. They want you to feel obliged to play certain games because you’re already automatically sending the money. They do not give a shit if you finish a title. Eyes on the screen in their ecosystem is all they want. It doesn’t matter if it’s the console manufacturer or the game developer. GTA(#) has been hyped for decades, they don’t need a physical GTAV to float around to convince a handful of people to buy GTAVI. GTA is not in the same market as FF
Hence GTA Online, where whales can keep spending hundreds of dollars for shark cards because they cant hope to play the game enough to stay infront of FOMO with all the new cars and other shit they constantly release.
they should want the secondhand market for exactly the reasons @[email protected] described. a secondhand sale leading to future sales leads to subscriptions. the secondhand market isn’t cutting into their profits, it’s free advertising.
Unfortunately when businesses base success per quarter or by number of sales in the first week of release that means very little to them
free advertising that they’ve been paid to make, cause that second hand game wouldnt exist if they hadnt already gotten their pay from someone buying it.
Used games are basically the companies getting paid, to advertise their games to others, who then… as long as they are a half decent company, would more than likely pick up more customers in the future than they would have had otherwise.
I still can’t find Ultra HD discs in the shops either - it’s easier to find low res DVDs in 2026 than 4k discs even though most TVs sold now are 4k.
I have become convinced that Sony are deliberately sabotaging their own format because Sony Pictures ran the numbers and concluded they’d make more money if everyone had to stream.
Barnes and Noble is the only reliable place left for ultra discs
A perpetual subscription is obviously a more stable source of income for corporations than a one-time purchase of a software package.
Adobe figured that out more than a decade ago. I’m surprised that it has taken the legacy media companies this long to hop on that particular bandwagon.
I don’t understand why ive been seeing so many people say this, that ship sailed long ago. Not only did the switch have games with download only codes, (not to mention that with switch 2 they have the “Game Key Card”), but PC games did this for years (maybe still do?) before moving away from physical discs entirely.
The solution is blockchain tokenization that is transferable to a new owner for the secondary market.
Will they ever implement something like that? Of course not.