I’m honestly not buying GTA 6 because it’s digital-only – Reader’s Feature

A reader is so upset by GTA 6 not having a disc version that he vows not to buy the game, as he accuses Rockstar of trying to manipulate fans in an attempt to make even more profit.

I can only imagine how rich Rockstar Games must be now, since they started taking pre-orders for GTA 6. Its success was always guaranteed and now it’s taken an important new step on its way to being the biggest thing ever – no exaggeration, this is going to be bigger than any movie or game by a long shot. We still don’t know much about it, but despite the nitpicking over the graphics, I’ve no real doubt it’ll be a great game and exactly what we’ve all been hoping for. But I’m not getting it.

I know there’s already lots of people talking about boycotts and petitions and everything, but we all know very few people are going to be able to resist the temptation of getting the game, and I don’t criticise them at all. Maybe I’ll cave in too, but at the moment I’m committed to not getting it. Because not only do I believe in physical media but I don’t like being manipulated into doing what a giant, billion dollar company wants me to, just so they can make an extra buck.

If this rumour about a proper disc version in December turns out to be true then fine, I’ll get it then. But it’s not going to change my newfound distrust of Rockstar and how they want to fleece us for money but won’t just be upfront about it.

Before this week, everyone was prepared for GTA 6 to cost £100, because that’d been the rumour for a while and it really is true that they could charge anything for it and people would’ve paid. I would’ve, if there’d been a disc version, as there’s no way I didn’t get £100 worth of entertainment out of GTA 5 and I’m sure the new game will be no different.

However, what seems to have happened is that Rockstar decided that while they could’ve charged more for the game they didn’t, and I think for a fairly obvious reason. They want to get people online and spending money on microtransactions and people aren’t going to flock quite as much to it if the price is so high.

Put it’s not just that, they’re also trying to tempt people into buying the more expensive Ultimate Edition by putting in exclusive content, including quests, so that anyone that wants to see and do it all has to buy it. They could’ve just done cosmetics and cars and weapons, which would have been fair enough (up to a point) but they went further and put story content behind a paywall.

And that’s not to mention that the whole reason they don’t want to put out a disc version is that they make more money from digital. Why share a cut of sales with shops when you can take it all for yourself? Never mind that it’s anti-consumer and might put a small fringe (including me) off, when the vast majority will go along with it, even while complaining.

As consumers we’re manipulated like this all the time by every kind of company. They want the maximum amount of money from us as they can get but they know they’ve got to be clever about it and make us think we’re getting a bargain, even though they know they’ll actually make far more money another way.

The only reason GTA 6 didn’t come out before now is that they make so much money from GTA Online they didn’t need to bother. There was only five years between GTA 4 and 5 and that’s not just because games were quicker to make in those days, it’s because GTA 4 didn’t have an online live service mode. So once sales started to slack off, they needed a new game to keep the money rolling in.

Any good business knows you sell low to get people onboard and then hit them with the upsell afterwards, in this case microtransactions. Well, if I do end up buying the game I can guarantee I won’t be buying any of those. And to be honest, after typing all this out, I feel even less upset at missing out on the game anyway. I don’t want to be a pawn in some accountant’s spreadsheet, I just want to buy and own a game, and play it on my own terms.

By reader Taylor Moon