Discs will become relics of the past as gaming goes digital

Video games on discs are on the way out, to the chagrin of many gamers around the world. Microsoft and Sony have both announced measures to either cut or eliminate physical disc production in the coming years.

Come January 2028, all PlayStation games will be solely available for purchase through Sony's digital storefront. 

The much-hyped Grand Theft Auto 6, finally launching on Xbox Series X|S and PS5 in November to end the 13-year wait for a new title in Rockstar's blue chip crime series, will not ship on discs. 

Instead, gamers perusing the shelves of JB Hi-Fi or EB Games will only find a download code on a slip of paper, inside of a box adorned with gun-slinging anti-heroes and scantily clad women on the beaches of Leonida, the fictitious state in which GTA 6 takes place, based on Florida.

Fan backlash across both sides of the PlayStation/Xbox divide has been significant, with myriad Reddit threads and YouTube videos devoted to the death of the disc. Criticism has not been universal, though, with some observers opining that digitisation has superseded most forms of physical media - and gaming has perhaps held on for as long as it reasonably could.

The cost benefit for Sony and Microsoft is significant. Most reliable sources estimate that it costs approximately $15 more to ship a game in disc format than a wholly digital release.

No official details of next generation consoles have been released, but industry observers speculate that they may be built without disc drives at all. 

Fast forward a few years, and there will be no more borrowing a game off your friend for "a week". No more rifling through the second-hand games bin at JB and walking out with three or four games for about $50.

We no longer buy records (although vinyl has seen something of a revival in recent times). Netflix and Disney have poured billions of dollars into streaming its shows and movies. 

Bookshops are still around, but are hardly thriving. You can grab a newly released book for under $20 from Amazon or Apple, page flipping sounds and all.

While Sony's July announcement caught some gamers off-guard, the news did not shock Professor Mark Johnson, Senior Lecturer in Digital Cultures at Sydney University.

"My first reaction was a total lack of surprise," he said.

"This is a shift that's been slowly taking place over decades, of course. If companies don't have to make physical copies of their products, it's just cheaper."

That sentiment was shared by Professor Ali Darejeh, Lecturer in the School of Computer Science and Engineering at UNSW.

Darejeh is supportive of the shift he said has been coming for some time, and argued that digital media is not susceptible to the constraints that physical discs are.

"I completely agree with and support this transition to digital versions because it's a natural and expected development in the gaming industry," he said.

"The way that people define ownership is not correct. People see CD, DVD, or memory sticks as a permanent solution, as a permanent device. They are not actually permanent. They have a lifespan."

Another factor is the control moving to digital-only games will provide to companies. Purchasing software is a different proposition to buying physical media.

Often there are conditions on the ownership of computer software or digital media buried deep in the fine print that companies are well aware most consumers quickly skip.

"It shifts ownership of their products," Johnson said.

"When you bought a physical game for consoles or for home computers, you own that game and you can play that game until the end of time. But if it's a digital copy, then in a sense, you own it, but in a sense, you are renting it indefinitely from the platform on which you play it."

Some fans have expressed concerns that the new era of gaming could see games they have bought become unplayable if Microsoft or Sony end support for a particular title.

The Japanese makers of the PlayStation have form in this area. In September, due to the expiration of a licensing agreement with French film company StudioCanal, movies and TV shows will be deleted from consumers' digital video libraries within the PlayStation user interface. 

The mass deletion covers 551 titles that users paid for and expected to own for life. 

Delays, backlash unlikely to affect Rockstar behemoth 

Despite community anger over gaming companies' recent decisions, as well as its multiple delays in launch, it is unlikely that the upcoming release of GTA 6 will be adversely affected.

After such a long wait of a decade-plus, gamers are itching to play a title that will likely break multiple sales records, receive plenty of critical acclaim and awards nods, and become one of the most-played games of all time.

While the series was initially focused on an immersive, story-based single-player experience, the unprecedented commercial success of GTA 5, first released in 2013 on third-generation consoles Xbox 360 and PS3, was mostly based on its multiplayer mode.

Its microtransaction system has reportedly brought in over US$5 billion for Rockstar, earning the company $1 million per day at its peak.

"I think it will still be massively influential, successful financially, and I assume critically as well," Johnson said.

"I don't think the delays will cause any issue."