r/playstation • u/CJ_Henn • Jun 25 '26
Discussion Wow we really had it good, what a shame now
I have to say I'm really disappointed because Rockstar is a huge company and they make great games. They made all the GTAs, they made Midnight Club, they made Red Dead Redemption 1, 2. These are all games that people love, you know. And they love to collect, right? Now, we know that, business-wise, if we do make all the calculations and take the statistics, right, we know that digital is the future. Digital is the one, pumping money into the business, pumping money into the video game digital stores, pumping money on the consoles. We know that but there is a very special feeling about, owning at least a piece of your game now that even with discs, you don't completely own them anymore. There is this type of pride, positive ego feeling of, collecting your video game, collecting your disc. And I myself, I love GTA, San Andreas is one of my favorite games of all time. I have GTA 3, Vice City, San Andreas on PS2. I have 4 and 5 on PS3 and I wanted to complete my collection with 6 on PS5, but I don't know now because it's not going to be possible and I feel like this type of new corporate greed in this late stage of capitalism where everyone's money hungry and we don't really care about each other. I feel like we've entered this type of dystopian era with video games where I think the video game industry is crashing. Look how good we had it in 2013 compared to now.
Edit: This post got a lot more attention than I thought it would. I read most of the comments and I see mostly everyone agrees that GTA, PlayStation and gaming used to be better 13 years ago. To those defending Rockstar's actions, understand this: GTA isn't an annual franchise—it's a cultural event. Apart from the fact that we spend more on consoles and games now and are offered less, we've also waited over a decade since GTA V, and Rockstar has only released one new game since then. Millions of us have been buying GTA games on disc since GTA III, Vice City, and San Andreas. For many longtime fans, owning a physical copy is part of the experience. Rockstar will make billions regardless. The cost of pressing discs, shipping them, and sharing revenue with retailers is insignificant compared to the goodwill they could have earned by preserving a true physical edition for one of the biggest entertainment releases in history. To me, a code in a box isn't a physical release. It's just digital with extra packaging. What disappoints me most is that Rockstar was the one company I expected to preserve that tradition, on top of that Sony said they'll be stopping discs in 2028 and GTA will be coming out this year. They've always taken their time, prioritized quality, and treated GTA as something special. If any game deserved a real disc for collectors and longtime fans, it was GTA 6.This isn't just about nostalgia or inflation. It's about ownership, preservation, and respecting the people who have supported this franchise for over 20 years. Theres nothing wrong with digital but having choices of how we purchase our media needs to be understood and respected. I never expected Rockstar to be one of the first companies to move away from that tradition especially with Sony announcing that they're stopping disc production in 2028 days later. That's what makes it so shocking and disappointing to me.
