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In a recent interview with IGN, Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of GTA 6 developer Rockstar Games' parent company, Take-Two Interactive, expressed his confidence in the longevity of physical media distribution in the market.
"I think I said, I think 10 years ago, I was asked what will be the market share of digital distribution in 10 years and I said, most of it. But there will almost certainly be a physical market that extends for quite a long time."
Digital media has become prevalent in recent times. Major console manufacturers like Sony and Microsoft have released digital-only variants of their latest PlayStation and Xbox systems. However, there still seems to be a demand for physical discs within the gaming community.
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GTA 6 publisher's CEO believes physical media distribution will be around for a long time
X user @videotechuk_ recently posted an excerpt from Strauss Zelnick's IGN interview that highlighted the Take-Two CEO's confidence that physical media distribution will stay despite digital copies of video games now seemingly having most of the market share.
Zelnick cited an example of the recorded music business to support his belief. He stated that the industry will continue to support physical media if it makes sense.
The dominance of digital media is quite evident in the gaming industry today. As stated earlier, the latest PlayStation and Xbox Series consoles have dedicated digital-only variants. This is why many fear that physical media could become extinct in the near future.
Strauss Zelnick's recent statements have had a positive reception in the online community, as there are many gamers who still prefer owning physical media.
As can be seen in the comments above, many fans would like to purchase physical copies when GTA 6 releases. Apart from the game disk, physical copies usually come with interesting collectibles like maps, guides, and booklets.
Some developers also release special/collector's editions of their new titles that feature exclusive merchandise like figurines, art books, and more. Even Rockstar Games has done this for many of its titles like Max Payne 3, Grand Theft Auto 4 and 5, as well as Red Dead Redemption 2.
Therefore, it would be interesting to see if the studio releases a similar variant for its next game.
Unfortunately, GTA 6's exact release date is still a mystery. All that is known currently is that it will come out in 2025 on current-gen consoles. Fans expected the release date to be announced at Take-Two's Q3 2024 earnings call, but that did not happen.
