Will GTA V Be Digital Only?

If your immediate response to the title of this article was “WHAT” then you, my dear reader, are not alone.

Last week Rockstar told the world that we should expect a trailer for Grand Theft Auto V, soon.

Ever since news of that reveal dropped, rumours have been running rampant over exactly what GTAV might be about, with reports coming in that the game would be situated in California (San Andreas in Rockstar-world) once again, and would feature multiple playable characters.

Now a gaming-focused market research and consulting firm called Newzoo — yes I’ve not heard of them either — have speculated that the upcoming title will be download only.

In a report that covered DLC, pre-owned and digital distribution, CEO Peter Warman said: “There are a lot of reasons why publishers are pushing towards digital distribution of triple-A games.”

He continued: “Speaking out loud might harm the relationship with retail partners, but the benefits have become too large to remain silent about the desire to go completely digital. The ultimate objective being to launch the games faster, create continuous revenues on a title and simply to make more money.”

Fucking Online Passes…

“Will retail disappear from the picture? Of course not. Retail will always remain an important channel to promote and distribute games. Retail has a strong hand to play when it comes to eyeballs and… boxes make a nice gift.”

He concluded: “Boxed games will not disappear, but what is in the box will. That is why the boxed GTA V version will contain a collectible piece of merchandise and a download code. No disc.”

Heresy to my eyes. Also, yes we just quoted an entire passage and focused on a single sentence in it. Ground-breaking journalism right here.

But seriously, would this even fly with gamers? Is this a possibility? Surely developers realise that a fair portion of their user base won’t even have the necessary facilities to make this possible.

Then again Rockstar have always been about radical ways to curve piracy, with their year-later PC releases with things like the Rockstar Games Social Club to keep the pirates out, fruitlessly of course.

I call hax on this, though. I think it’s just a start-up firm that’s looking to get some publicity out of something that’s pretty huge in the gaming world. But if what they’re saying proves to be true, is that where we’re headed?

I really, really like discs…