One of the big questions following the shock decision not to release GTA 6 on-disc at launch is whether Rockstar will ever release a disc version of the game. In a new interview with IGN, Strauss Zelnick, boss of Rockstar parent company Take-Two, refused to rule it out.
Speaking today following the release of Take-Two’s Q1 2027 financials, Zelnick defended the company’s decision not to release GTA 6 on a disc, insisting when it comes to big games, discs “don’t really make sense for the consumer.”
And in a new interview with IGN, Zelnick doubled down on his comments to the investment community, confirming more than 90% of Take-Two’s sales are digital.
“In order to play video games, you need to be connected today,” Zelnick added. “So everyone's connected. So it's just a matter of the most efficient way to get the title into people's hands.”
That’s the situation for the launch of GTA 6, but what about the longer term view? We asked Zelnick if he could rule out the possibility of GTA 6 ever releasing on disc. Here's his response: “I wouldn't rule out anything at this stage of the game. What we've announced so far is what we're doing at the moment, but we are always open minded.”
After Rockstar confirmed the GTA 6 no disc situation back in June, some wondered if it was in part about preventing leaks in the run up to the game’s launch. Having no physical discs loaded with game data will help with "Rockstar's near-pathological secrecy," Rhys Elliot, head of market analysis at Alinea Analytics, told IGN at the time. It also ensured game data only unlocks at launch, meaning no damaging early leaks from copies "lost off the back of a truck." GTA 6 has already seen one major pre-launch leak, and with fans poring over every last snippet of information about the game, it's easy to see why Rockstar would want to keep control over every last detail.
However, speaking to IGN today, Zelnick denied security had anything to do with the decision. “No,” Zelnick responded when asked if concern over GTA 6 potentially leaking if it were released on disc factored into Take-Two’s thinking in any way.
There is an ongoing backlash not just to Rockstar’s decision on GTA 6, but also Sony’s announcement to discontinue PlayStation disc production from 2028. This has seen gamers continue to call on Sony to U-turn on its decision, signing online petitions and swarming over PlayStation social media posts to express concern about video game preservation and ownership — even overshadowing the release of new games that have nothing to do with what’s going on at Sony. Meanwhile, backers of physical media have called on gamers to boycott PlayStation for a week in August to send a message to Sony that its decision to kill discs from 2028 is unacceptable. Complaints have also come from other groups. The UK’s Digital Entertainment and Retail Association (ERA), for example, called Sony’s decision “a triumph of corporate convenience over consumer choice.”
Last week, Sony finally broke its silence on its decision to discontinue PlayStation discs to say it is not having any impact on its business now, and it doesn’t see any negative impact in the future. Executives have insisted Sony will not change its mind, while acknowledging “strong views” from the video game community.
And speaking to IGN, Zelnick offered a similar response to the backlash, expressing his belief that GTA 6 not releasing on a disc basically won’t hurt Take-Two financially. “I certainly hope there will be no negative impact and I don't expect that there will be one,” he said.
Zelnick agreed with the assertion that he sees a future when physical discs just go away completely (“yes, I do”), but didn’t want to put a timeframe on it. “I really wouldn't be able to guess,” he said. “And by going away, there'll still be some in the same way that there's still some vinyl in the recorded music business, but I don't believe it'll be a lot.”
And finally on the GTA 6 disc issue, Zelnick distanced Take-Two from the suggestion that it was influenced by Sony’s decision to discontinue PlayStation discs from 2028, stressing: “We wanted to do what was right for the project.”
When Sony announced its decision it said it was simply following consumer trends. “In response to shifting trends in consumer preference, new games will be released on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only,” Sid Shuman, Senior Director, Sony Interactive Entertainment Content Communications, said in a post on PlayStation Blog.
Sony's latest financials show an 82% digital download ratio for full game software across PS4 and PS5. Reinforcing this trend, Mat Piscatella, Senior Director and Video Game Industry Advisor at Circana, recently said that just seven PlayStation video games had sold more than 100,000 physical units so far this year in the U.S.. Only two PlayStation video games sold more than 10,000 physical units in the U.S. during the week ending July 11.
For Sony, going all-digital for new game releases will earn it more money from every sale at a time when console sales are expected to plummet due to their rising cost. For a first-party PlayStation game such as The Last of Us, Sony will only keep around 65% of the money from a physical copy, with around 30% going to the retailer and roughly another 5% on manufacturing costs. Meanwhile, for a physical copy of a third-party game such as the Activision-published Call of Duty, Sony will get a licensing fee, likely around 15%.
For downloads, however, the margins are much higher. For a first-party game sold via Sony's own PlayStation Store, the company obviously keeps 100% of the revenue. For third-party games such as Call of Duty, meanwhile, Sony keeps a 30% cut (so, roughly $21 for a $70 game).
We've got plenty more from Zelnick today, including his comments on the GTA 6 price points, and Netflix's timed exclusivity on the next GTA 6 trailer.
Photo by Steven Ferdman/Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
