Rockstar Games co-founder responds to GTA 6 code-in-box backlash

Grand Theft Auto VI launches later this year and gamers are patiently waiting for its third trailer. The full marketing campaign is expected to start in the next few weeks.

The hype surrounding the game has been somewhat spoiled by its physical edition though, which won’t include a disc in the box.

Fans were disappointed to hear this, especially when PlayStation announced it’d be ending physical media production a week later.

In addition to the gamers themselves, industry veterans have also had a lot to say about the controversy, and now Rockstar Games’ co-founder Dan Houser has thrown his two cents into the discussion.

Speaking with IGN at San Diego Comic-Con 2026 Houser was supportive of both viewpoints. He argued that“if people want [physical media], I think companies should provide it,” but "the ability to update and fix problems” in digital games has been increasingly useful for developers.

Houser also added that doesn’t “personally care” about the future of discs, but later said "I love physical media.”

The PlayStation Network outage is the best example of where digital media fails

Houser's comments on digital media making it easier for developers to update and fix their games is based in a lot of truth.

The ability to fire out an update that remedies whatever technical fault is bothering players is fantastic, but you can’t deny that it somewhat invites laziness during development. The ‘ship it and we’ll fix it later’ approach has been done on so many AAAs in the last decade and while it’s rarely done in a malicious way, it does hurt the credibility of games and studios when products are rushed out of the door.

Last week though PlayStation suffered yet another major network outage, and like the time before it many PlayStation 5 owners lost access to their game libraries.

Imagine if the network crashes when GTA VI releases, and players are unable to play their $80-$100 game through no fault of their own.

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From 2028 onwards though that’ll unfortunately be the reality, as Sony will no longer produce physical versions of its first-party games. This means the PlayStation 6 will likely be an all-digital console and may even lack an optional disc-drive.

Xbox on the other hand is seemingly making moves to allow the best of both worlds. It’s made no mention of a physical media cull, but rumour has it that its new Positron feature will let you turn your physical games into digital licenses.

As for Rockstar Games, fans are still complaining about GTA VI being a code-in-box at launch, but as expected the studio hasn’t commented.

GTA VI will launch on Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 on November 19 2026, with a PC launch expected sometime in early 2027. A new version of GTA: Online is also expected to launch around this time.