The Grand Theft Auto 6 physical edition is overpriced DRM in a box
Key takeaways
- Rockstar Games If you spend $80 of your hard-earned income on a physical edition of Grand Theft Auto VI, you'll receive a box with a code inside.
- Anyway, at least the physical edition doesn't cost any more than the digital version, which is already raising eyebrows at $80.
- The writing has been on the wall for a while now, but Rockstar pricing the standard edition of GTA VI at $80 feels like a turning point.
Rockstar Games If you spend $80 of your hard-earned income on a physical edition of Grand Theft Auto VI, you'll receive a box with a code inside. The box is your standard rectangular, disc-holding shape, but the game itself doesn't come on a disc — or two — at all. Perhaps the physical part is the warm feeling you get when you manually type the code into your PS5 or Xbox Series X? It surely can't just be referencing the box, right?
Anyway, at least the physical edition doesn't cost any more than the digital version, which is already raising eyebrows at $80. This isn't an unheard-of price point in today's market, but it is a shock to players who are still getting used to the $70 standard for AAA games. Nintendo has been at the forefront of the more-than-$70 movement, pricing Mario Kart World at $80 in 2025 and following that up with Elden Ring heading to Switch 2 this August. Xbox also teased an increase to $80 for its first-party games in 2025, but it backtracked just a few months later. (Classic Xbox).
The writing has been on the wall for a while now, but Rockstar pricing the standard edition of GTA VI at $80 feels like a turning point. The doors were cracked, but now they're wide open, and the wave of $80 AAA games can start flooding in.