Remember the discless Grand Theft Auto VI backlash that started as soon as pre-orders went live? Well, it just escalated. PNP Games, a Canadian retailer, launched a petition called "Give GTA 6 a Real Disc," demanding Rockstar Games ship an actual disc instead of the code-in-a-box physical edition. After some retailers refused to stock GTA 6, another is formally petitioning Rockstar to reverse course.
It is a clean, simple ask. Whether it works is a different question. If you're wondering why retailers and gamers care so much, here's why: a disc used to mean ownership. You bought it, you owned that copy, you could sell it, lend it, or keep it forever, regardless of what happened to online stores. The emphasis is on the selling part - players could trade in copies of used games which retailers would sell again.
A download code gives you none of that. It ties the game to your account, just like a digital purchase. This removes the entire reselling - or sharing, for that matter - angle. The petition is really a stand for that older idea of actually owning your games instead of just licensing them, using GTA 6 as the symbol because it is the biggest game around.
Odds the GTA 6 Petition Changes Anything
| Outcome | Likelihood | Why |
|---|---|---|
Rockstar adds a disc at launch | Very unlikely | Manufacturing and plans are locked this close to release |
A post-launch disc or Switch 2 cart version | Possible, not promised | Rockstar has done later editions before; not impossible down the line |
Take-Two notices the pressure | Plausible | Retailer petitions plus refusals plus press can register, even if nothing changes immediately |
No change at all | Most likely | Digital momentum is strong and GTA 6 will sell regardless |
A 200GB-plus game genuinely does not fit cleanly on a disc, so even a "real disc" edition would require a large download.
A launch-day disc is almost certainly off the table now. Production is locked for November and the next Grand Theft Auto isn't just any game. However, a disc release coming later, especially now that people are calling out Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick for "lying", or a Switch 2 cartridge version, is not impossible, since Rockstar has released updated editions of games before. We wouldn't necessarily count on it, though.
The most probable outcome here is that the petition makes enough noise to affect Take-Two's stock, shareholders make executives take notice, and the discs ship post-launch. Again, don't count on this changing much. Petitions like this rarely reverse a corporate decision on their own, and anyone signing should know that going in.
However, they're also not useless - visibility from a retailer carries more weight because it comes from a business that represents actual paying customers. Combined with stores refusing to stock the game and steady press coverage, it builds a record of organized pushback. With enough pressure, it might factor into how Rockstar handles physical editions of future games, or whether a GTA 6 disc shows up a year from now.
Ultimately, signing up for the GTA 6 petition costs nothing if you care. The realistic odds of a launch-day disc are slim because the game's likely humongous size complicates the request, and the industry has moved towards digital for years.
Then again, who knows? Historically, Rockstar has shown a willingness to listen and learn from its mistakes, and this petition could find its way onto the radar of someone with actual authority one of these days. When that happens, Rockstar and Take-Two will have to do something.