A new report claims Sony caught many publishers, retailers, and business partners off guard with its decision to stop making physical PlayStation games in 2028.
According to the report, many partners only learned of it after Sony made the announcement public.
One executive at a major AAA publisher said
โDespite our seemingly close working relationship with PlayStation, we werenโt informed that this was happening.โ โItโs only hitting us now that we may be out of jobs sooner rather than later.โ
The report says talks between Sony and its partners have been tense since the announcement. Some companies are frustrated by how the decision was handled, and in countries like India, it has disrupted plans to expand PlayStation retail stores.
GTA VI launching without physical means that if it becomes subject to copyright issues like this example here from the sculpture found in Vespucci Beach that was later replaced in GTA V, some objects and sites could be replaced with future patches and we will never see them again.
This happened only once with GTA V, but the fact that you can get to see the original site only in the launch version means that if the same thing happens in GTA VI, no one will be able to revisit those sites and experience the launch edition of the game which is honestly a shame.
Rockstar Games, i do believe that there is still time to commit to a physical release even if it happens shortly after the game launches in order to avoid early spoilers.
Put the 1.0 version in the disc and let the gamers who still enjoy physical media keep it preserved.