We’re all quite familiar with the situation surrounding GTA 6’s physical version coming with a download code to the digital version of the game. We know that Rockstar is releasing retail copies by November 12, giving players around a week to preload the game before its global launch. There’s been a lot of debate around the move, and GTA 6 has become a central point to arguments against digital-only modes of distribution in video games.
Well, the game’s PlayStation version is now an important part of the conversation thanks to Sony’s policy of region-locking digital codes, requiring that they match the country registered on the player account. That throws a wrench in Rockstar’s plans, considering that its retail strategy could go haywire if the only thing standing between potential players and a purchased copy of the game is a platform-specific restriction.
How does that work, you ask? Well, let’s dive in and take a look at a situation that might not come with quick and easy solutions.
A Familiar Hurdle To A Fresh New Game
Let’s get this out of the way: Sony requiring PS Store codes to match the region registered with the account isn’t anything new. But it’s important to remember that you don’t have the option to change your region once you select it when setting up a new account, a detail that becomes important a little later down the line. For now, it’s enough to know that it’s always been a thing with PlayStation, and isn’t a new restriction created specifically for GTA 6.
That brings in Rockstar’s role in the situation. Would it be fair to blame the studio for a restriction it has no control over? Should it change its position on shipping its flagship title without discs on physical editions? Why is Rockstar even a part of the conversation when this isn’t some new form of region-locking that it invented, but rather an existing one that doesn’t have a workaround at the moment?
That’s because a game as important to the industry and gaming culture as GTA 6 shouldn’t have to face issues like region-locking. Up until now, that has been an issue with DLC, pre-order bonuses, in-game currencies, season passes, and digital add-ons to games, many of which can be bought with codes that PlayStation players must be quite careful about ensuring their purchase was going to work on their version of the game.
But as far as the boxed edition of GTA 6 is concerned, that’s now the entire base game, with no disk to use in case the code ends up incompatible. Region-locking might not have been too much of a concern in the past, but it certainly is now, considering that it’s a possibility that a number of players using one of the most popular consoles of the current generation to play one of its biggest releases might not be able to boot up a copy that they own.
Something’s gone wrong somewhere along the way, hasn’t it? Well, like it or not, here we are. But wait. Things could get a lot worse.
Potential Pitfalls
It’s insane to assume that in today’s world, it’s a gamer making purchases through a single channel (a retailer or digital storefront) that forms a title’s supply chain. But that’s exactly what this situation feels like, as Sony’s restriction assumes that a person stays put in the country where they first created an account, and that they’re only going to stick to that region thereafter. But that ignores several possibilities, all of which have been mild inconveniences until now, but could become serious roadblocks to GTA 6’s release if things get ugly enough.
It’s possible that a copy purchased from an international retailer doesn’t let you access the game when you type in your code thanks to a regional mismatch. That could apply to a cheaper imported copy too, or one that you received as a gift. All of those are different ways to get the game, by the way, but you’re still not going to be able to play it if the regions don’t line up.
Let’s assume you’re careful and do your best to ensure that the restriction doesn’t apply to you. That might mean looking through multiple marketplace sellers in case you don’t find ones that list the region specifically. It could also mean you might not be able to play a copy you purchased locally in case you’re living in a different country from the one your account is based in. That might mean that you need to create a new account, and GTA 6 is the first title in an unnecessary effort to build an entirely separate library of games.
It doesn’t help that Rockstar has explicitly recommended cognizance of this specific pitfall, and has asked players to purchase physical editions of the game from retailers in the same country as the account a player’s profile is based in. That’s not to say that the studio expects every foreign purchase to fail, but the fact that it has spoken up about it points to the probability that it anticipated issues and is trying to get in front of them. That’s made all the more complicated by the fact that the studio uses regional groups instead of locking each code to an individual country.
That means you’ve got a code for regions like North America, UK, Japan, Korea, and different groupings for Asian countries. India, for instance, shares groups with Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, among others. While that might be an efficient distribution strategy internally, Rockstar should know that it’s possible for a physical copy to simply not work thanks to these groupings because some players may not understand how it organizes its regions.
A copy purchased from one country could still work in another one, while one from a nearby country could fail if it’s in another group. We’re going to reiterate that this doesn’t mean every foreign copy is going to be unusable, but it does highlight a higher probability of issues for a game that’s been highly anticipated for a very long time.
This is also a great place to bring in Japan, and the unique regional restriction that Rockstar needs to adhere to there. Japanese codes of GTA 6 are going to become redundant after 170 days if they remain unredeemed. It’s a great example of why a code isn’t equal to a disc, highlighting how a sealed disc remains usable for years while a code can expire if the region it’s issued in doesn’t allow it to endure. Life happens, and it’s very possible that a player could find that brand new copy just sitting around waiting for them to boot up the game until six months later, that code just vanishes into the ether.
We try to stay neutral and consider the merits of both sides in any argument, but we can’t help but wonder if all this potential friction is really necessary given that other platforms are free of them.
Unnecessary Evils
Remember when we mentioned that you can’t change regions once you pick one when setting up your account on PlayStation? Here’s why that’s important. For starters, the option to switch regions is the most obvious solution to all of the problems we’ve been talking about, but it’s off the table already. Another inadvisable solution is a new account created specifically for the same region as the code, but that’s a pathway to needless hassles for a player who just wants to enjoy a game they’ve bought.
Which account technically owns the game becomes an issue, as you’re going to have to work with restoring licences and setting up your primary account for console sharing if you plan to play the game on it. It also becomes an issue when trying to figure out which account needs to buy future downloadable content, Ultimate Edition upgrades, any bonuses, or perhaps when you want to access the game on another console later. There’s only so many passwords one can keep track of, after all.
You shouldn’t have to maintain a separate account just to play a purchased copy of a game. Even worse is the fact that this restriction doesn’t exist on other platforms like Xbox. It’s the same boxed product with a code to the digital version of the game, but where the PS5 could stumble on region-locking, an Xbox is going to sail right on through. It obviously doesn’t mean that one console is better than the other, but it does reveal how illogical it is to have different conditions on the same damn product.
It also showcases an interesting facet of the physical versus digital games debate: the box may be even less secure than a digital copy if you’re the type to buy your games directly off your account’s digital storefront, which ensures that region-locking isn’t of any concern whatsoever. GTA 6 is now a game where buying a physical copy for your PlayStation doesn’t give you a playable disc, or any options for an offline install, with the added uncertainty of your copy being incompatible with your account.
You forego the convenience of automatic storefront matching and lose value on traditional preservation too. That’s not to mention potential losses from no resale value if you’re the type to budget things out gaming-wise. In all practicality, GTA 6 on PlayStation combines the restrictions of digital ownership with the uncertainty of purchasing a retail physical copy as it stands.
While you could argue that it isn’t a new problem, we’d counter by agreeing while pointing out that it’s now getting the scale and visibility it perhaps should have always had thanks to GTA 6. It’s one of the first high profile games to vanish entirely behind a download code that may or may not work based on the region it was issued for and the one you’re trying to redeem it in. It’s turned a familiar voucher restriction into another valid point in the larger debate about access, preservation, importing, and gifting of games.
There isn’t a disc left when a code fails, and no matter where you stand on ownership and preservation of games, that is definitely a cause for concern when talking about one of the biggest games of a whole generation of them.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
