GTA VI : THE TIPPING POINT FOR A NEW NORMAL
Cormac Moylan, CMO at Loaded, argues that GTA VI could become the release that finally makes gaming’s shift away from physical discs impossible to ignore
G
TA VI will likely be the highest-grossing release ever. Yet at the same time, the game’s physical release is both meaningless and the most
significant catalyst the gaming industry has seen this century. By putting a download code inside a box instead
of a disc, Rockstar is headlining a show the rest of the industry has spent a decade setting up. The box exists because people still expect a box. But what's inside it doesn't need to exist.
THIS ISN'T THE FIRST TIME SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAS HAPPENED CDs never fully disappeared, but they might as well have. Music went from physical to MP3s, the cloud, and eventually the smartphone. That change took years, but while CDs crumbled, the music industry didn't. The format changed shape. Game discs have been on a steady decline for over a
decade. While physical sales still hold approximately 25% of the overall market across the UK and US, that figure is largely sustained by the back catalog. When it comes to new releases, the transition to digital is near-complete. Capcom recently reported 93.3% of its total game
revenue came from digital sales, leaving physical with just 7% share. XBOX is seeing an even steeper drop, with physical media accounting for just 4% of new game sales in the US in 2026 so far.
4 | MCV/DEVELOP September/October 2026 For many gamers, their ritual hasn't changed at all in
those past 10 years - put the disc in, press start, the exact same habit since the 90s, half convenience, half nostalgia. The disc stopped being the thing you were actually
playing the game from and, for the most part, became a shortcut to an installer that could just as easily run without it. Gaming has been asking players to move one habit at a time. At Loaded, we’ve seen the shift play out from the retail
side too. Digital purchasing is no longer the alternative way to buy a game. For a huge section of players, it is simply the normal way to buy one. Convenience, instant access, and the ability to shop around for value have changed what players expect from game retail. GTA VI is the tipping point where the choice stops
being invisible.
SONY AND MICROSOFT HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS Console hardware has already evolved to be discless. The PS5 Digital Edition ships with no disc drive at all, and XBOX Series S has never had one. Until now, however, disc support still existed alongside
them. Buyers who wanted a drive could choose one. Discless was an option, not the default. That's what GTA VI actually hands Sony and
Microsoft, whether Rockstar intended it or not, an open goal. GTA VI doesn't need to kill off disc-supported
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