While many gamers are unhappy about the fact that the “physical” release of Grand Theft Auto 6 across PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 19th won’t include a disc, an analyst believes that this won’t end up impacting sales of the game much. In a BlueSky post, Circana’s Mat Piscatella noted that the number of PS5 and Xbox Series S consoles without a disc drive in the world is evidence of this.
Along with this, he also expressed the idea that retailers might benefit from the lack of a disc-included physical release, since it will also curtail the second-hand market for Grand Theft Auto 6. Piscatella also made a tongue-in-cheek reference to Nintendo’s Game Key Cards, joking that the medium doesn’t seem so bad anymore.
“Anyways, devil’s advocate here, but given the % of PS5/XBS consoles out there without a disc drive, one could argue code in box may provide a better opportunity for retailers, particularly those that don’t sell used,” he wrote. “In any case, can’t say this changes anything regarding total sales expectations.”
Interestingly, rumors have indicated that Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive haven’t entirely abandoned the idea of a physical release for Grand Theft Auto 6 with the disc included. Rather, the companies are seemingly going to release the disc-based physical versions in December 2026.
Pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto 6 recently went live, and Rockstar Games has confirmed that the base game is priced at $80, and an Ultimate Edition that includes a number of in-game goodies is priced at $100. Whether the company’s decision to break the traditional $70 price barrier that had been the norm since the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S launched will affect the market at large remains to be seen.
Alinea Analytics’ Rhys Elliot believes that Rockstar Games is one of the few companies in the world that can actually get away with going with such high price tag. He noted that other publishers that try this without having built up the public goodwill or even the necessary cultural cachet for their franchises are going to learn the hard way that they can’t do the same.
“I think a lot of publishers are about to learn that the hard way,” said Elliot. “GTA 6 has more pricing power than any game on earth, and it still didn’t go above $80. If the biggest release in the industry’s history looked at the ceiling and chose not to break it, that should tell everyone else the ceiling is real, and they’ll smack their head on it. The danger is that publishers read ‘GTA is $80′ as a green light and push their own run-of-the-mill or new-IP games to $80, when the lesson is the opposite: even GTA didn’t think it could go higher.”
In the meantime, the wording for the extra content in the description of Grand Theft Auto 6’s Ultimate Edition indicates that Rockstar Games might be taking chapter-based approach to its main narrative, rather than the franchise’s more traditional campaigns that didn’t distinguish between chapters.
The Game Key Card leans back in its chair. It glances at its cigarette, takes a deep drag, exhaling towards the ceiling.Its eyes look towards the viewer. A half smile appears. "Guess I ain't so bad now, am I?"It chuckles, rises, and leaves.
— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2026-06-24T10:27:34.045Z
Anyways, devil's advocate here, but given the % of PS5/XBS consoles out there without a disc drive one could argue code in box may provide a better opportunity for retailers, particularly those that don't sell used.In any case, can't say this changes anything regarding total sales expectations.
— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2026-06-24T10:49:47.157Z