The highs of Summer Game Fest 2026 gave way to negative news, including studio shutdowns, layoffs, and further price increases for current-gen consoles. To cap it all, Rockstar Games announced pre-orders and a release date for Grand Theft Auto VI.
Read the official synopsis:
"Jason and Lucia have always known the deck is stacked against them. But when an easy score goes wrong, they find themselves on the darkest side of the sunniest place in America, in the middle of a criminal conspiracy stretching across the state of Leonida — forced to rely on each other more than ever if they want to make it out alive."
GTA VI heads to the state of Leonida, home to the neon-soaked streets of Vice City and beyond, in the biggest, most immersive evolution of the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series yet. With a reported budget of over a billion dollars and featuring a female protagonist (Lucia), GTA VI was originally due to be released in 2025.
The long-awaited next instalment in the GTA franchise will be released on PlayStation 5 (PS5) and Xbox Series X|S on 19th November and will be digital-only.
This has sent shockwaves through the console community regarding physical vs digital media ownership.
Since 2021, along with Game Pass Ultimate, I've bought digital-only games on sale on the Xbox Series S, but I still like buying physical releases on PS5. However, I've pre-ordered the Grand Theft Auto VI: Ultimate Edition.
As a fan of GTA since GTA III, GTA VI is my most anticipated video game in years! Good thing I upgraded my PS5 with a WD_BLACK 2TB SSD before RAMageddon!
Rockstar Games has yet to announce a third official trailer for GTA VI. Given the unprecedented hype surrounding the video game, there's no need.
Pre-order Grand Theft Auto VI at Amazon (affiliate link).
Are you looking forward to Grand Theft Auto VI? Does it matter that it's digital-only at launch? Let me know in the comments below.
I had originally planned for GTA VI to be the last PlayStation game I buy for PS5 but I won't even buy it for that.
ReplyDeleteRed Dead Redemption 2 still hasn't received a PS5 update to run at higher resolutions and framerates on console but I bought it for $20 on Steam and I can run it at 4K resolution at 60+fps. Considering we haven't received a confirmation on which graphics modes will be available for PS5 or on Pro at release I can only surmise it'll be 30fps at launch. I rather not buy it digitally for a closed platform where I'd hypothetically have to wait until 2028 or beyond to run it at 60fps after a $1500 console upgrade.
It's also a matter of principle.
If you have a problem with Sony eliminating physical media, don't buy GTA VI. People have every right to do what they want with their own money, but don't complain when we get $100 games with cut content on day one in a few years because 35 million preorders (without actual gameplay mind you) told the industry this behaviour is acceptable.
It happened with microtransactions when people thought there wouldn't be repercussions when they purchased horse armor for TES IV: Oblivion, it happened with COD when people bought a single for $20 when they were provided free along with maps.
It looks like it'll happen again and people have only themselves to blame....
...or the industry will crash and we'll see a bunch of code in box GTA VI copies buried in a landfill in New Mexico.
Back in the age of Atari, I wanted the E.T. video game for Christmas, but never got it, as it was destined for the landfill!
DeleteTo your point. Consumers are getting fleeced and end up owning nothing.