Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser stated during San Diego Comic-Con 2026 that gaming companies should provide physical disc releases if consumers demand them. His comments follow Sony’s announcement to end physical disc production for new PlayStation games by January 2028 and confirmation that Grand Theft Auto VI will launch without a disc.
The debate over digital ownership has intensified following a series of industry shifts. During a conversation with IGN at San Diego Comic-Con, Dan Houser, who left Rockstar Games in early 2020, addressed the tension between tactile media and digital convenience. While Houser expressed a personal indifference toward the format for games, he argued that supply should follow consumer preference.
“I don’t know that I care, but if people want that, I think companies should provide it,” Houser said. “But I don’t know that I personally care.”
Dan Houser, Co-founder of Absurd Ventures
Sony’s 2028 Deadline and the GTA 6 Digital Shift
Houser’s remarks arrive as Sony Interactive Entertainment announced it will discontinue physical game disc production for all new PlayStation console releases starting in January 2028. According to the company, this move reflects a shift in consumer behavior toward digital downloads. Sony stated that this transition allows the company to better align with how most players currently access games, though it maintains that users can still purchase new titles via retailers or the PlayStation Store.
The industry trend is already impacting major releases. Rockstar has confirmed that Grand Theft Auto VI will not ship on a disc when it launches in November 2026; instead, physical boxes will contain a redeemable digital download code. This decision has become a flashpoint for collectors and fans concerned about game preservation.
While some argue digital is inevitable, the scale of the physical market remains significant. In the U.S. alone, 37 million physical copies were sold by June 2026. Although this is a sharp decline from the 292 million units sold in the same period in 2009, the second-hand market is still valued at $7.2 billion, encompassing consoles, peripherals, and accessories.
The Trade-off Between Tactile Value and Technical Quality
Houser and his longtime collaborator Lazlow Jones, both now at Absurd Ventures, highlighted a distinct split between the emotional appeal of physical goods and the functional benefits of digital distribution. Jones noted the specific feeling when you get that copy, and you put the disc in the console
, but contrasted it with the utility of digital libraries, such as downloading games to a Steam Deck for long flights.
Beyond convenience, Houser pointed to a critical technical advantage of digital-first releases: the ability to iterate on the product after it reaches the consumer.
“I also think that the ability to update games – as critical as people are of digital releases – the ability to update and fix problems in games has been really useful for the quality of games.”
Dan Houser, Co-founder of Absurd Ventures
Interestingly, Houser’s passion for physical media is more pronounced in other formats. While discussing the American Caper comic series published by Absurd Ventures, Houser interjected, I love physical media
, implying a specific affinity for printed pages and books over game discs.
Market Demand Versus Ecosystem Control
The conflict between Houser’s principle—that companies should provide what people want—and Sony’s decision reveals a gap in how “demand” is interpreted. Sony justifies the 2028 cutoff by citing declining sales and a shift in preference. However, some critics argue that companies have influenced this decline by making digital the default option within their closed ecosystems.
This tension is exacerbated by the risks of digital-only ownership. For users in regions with poor internet connectivity or lack of official PSN support, physical discs remain a necessity rather than a preference.
As the industry moves toward the 2028 deadline, the central uncertainty remains whether the decline of the disc is a natural consumer evolution or a manufactured shift toward a more controlled, digital-only distribution model.
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