GTA VI is set to be one of the biggest launches in entertainment history, with tens of millions of people expected to download and play it in its opening week. The game’s production costs are reported to have been over $1 billion, highlighting what a monumental event its release will be.
There are rumours that the game will be released in a digital format only, suggesting that it will trigger a wider move away from physical discs in the gaming market. The Rockstar titles have always been highly influential, and other developers may follow the studio’s lead.
GTA Games Have Always Been Highly Influential
The Grand Theft Auto series has always had a huge influence on the wider gaming industry, with each instalment introducing innovations that have been seen across other titles in the years that followed them. GTA V, for example, showed how a single game can remain relevant for more than a decade through online updates and multiplayer content.
GTA VI is likely to have a similar impact on the industry. However, a lot of details about the game have been kept secret, so it’s hard to predict where its most influential aspects will lie. One thing that has been reported is that the game may not come in disc form, with many players set to download it directly to their consoles. There will be physical boxed editions available, but these will contain codes rather than discs.
Wider Entertainment Market Has Been Moving to the Cloud
If you look at the wider entertainment market, console gaming is one of the few places where discs are still commonplace. Music led the way, with most people now using platforms like Spotify and Apple Music to listen to their favourite tracks. Indeed, the concept of having albums on physical discs now feels strange and antiquated.
Other areas of gaming have also become almost entirely digital. For instance, the booming online casino industry is awash with complex platforms on which players can play through their browsers with no downloading necessary. They can easily switch between the various games, promotions, and no deposit bonuses available while enjoying a smooth user experience.
With console games, discs make more sense, as there’s less need to switch them as frequently as you would with music. However, in a world where almost everything is on the cloud, it seems like it’s time to move away from them.
Some Players May Still Care About Discs
Even though digital games offer much greater convenience, many players still care about physical discs. They offer people the chance to build collections of titles that they can always look at and be proud of. There are often also special editions that come with unique cover art and booklets.
The reported plan to release boxed editions with codes instead of discs could partly address this issue. It would mean that people are still able to collect game boxes as they would have done before, meaning that their collections would remain intact.
There has long been talk of a mass move away from discs in the gaming market, and GTA VI could be the final catalyst that spurs other studios to do the same. However, there is still a chance that Rockstar Games will change its mind and release the game in disc format.
