For months now, fans have been grumpily shaking their fists at Rockstar Games over its decision not to include a disc in the box for GTA 6. But when copies began landing on doorsteps yesterday morning, some unsuspecting buyers may have been in for a bit of a shock.
Shortly before pre-orders for the game went live in June this year, Rockstar revealed that physical copies of GTA 6 would not ship with a disc. Instead, you’d find a download code when you peeled off the cellophane wrapping and opened up the box, so you can pre-load ahead of time and play as soon as the game goes live on Thursday 19 November.
What fans might not have been expecting, however, was to find an empty plastic spindle where the disc would normally sit. That’s right, a case with a disc holder and no disc to hold.
First unboxing of GTA 6 in the wild pic.twitter.com/4Qt0e1KPzi
— GTA 6 Intel (@GTA6Intel) November 10, 2026
Still, there are a couple of reasons why you still might want to buy a boxed copy of Grand Theft Auto 6. The main reason is that it’s slightly cheaper than the digital edition. Right now, you can pick up a copy of GTA 6 for £64.99 at Argos, which is £5 cheaper than buying it digitally through the PlayStation Store and Xbox Store. Not bad for a plastic box with no disc inside.
Secondly, you also get a large A3 double-sided poster in the box. You don’t get that with your all-digital copy. One side features the game’s official cover art. The other side features a woman welcoming you to Vice City.
And if you’re one of the thousands taking the day off to play GTA 6 on launch day, you might also enjoy having something to decorate your walls with. Nothing quite says responsible adulthood like taking annual leave to play games and sticking a gaming poster above your desk like it’s 2008. It is a little disappointing, given we used to get a map of Grand Theft Auto’s sprawling cities in the box, But if you’re going to spend £70 on a download code anyway, you might as well save yourself a fiver and get a poster out of it.
Before pre-order day, reports suggested Rockstar was trying to prevent retailers from leaking the game ahead of launch, with insiders claiming a physical edition with a disc could arrive in December, but The Hollywood Reporter later reported that Rockstar had no plans to print discs at all.
Given that Sony has since announced it will stop producing physical discs for new PlayStation games starting from January 2028, and Take-Two chief Strauss Zelnick told investors in August that discs “don’t really make sense for the consumer”, I wouldn’t hold your breath.
Best ‘GTA 6’ pre-order deals
‘Grand Theft Auto 6’: Was £69.99, now £64.99, Argos.co.uk
Argos has slashed the physical copy of GTA 6 by £5 ahead of its launch next Thursday. If you pre-order the game today, you’ll receive a Vintage Vice City pack. It comes with a classic '55 Vapid Stanier sedan, Shore Court Garage, retro outfits and hairstyles for Jason and Lucia and a Tommy Vercetti-inspired weapon skin. You, of course, get a poster in the box too, but no disc.
For more, we’ve detailed everything you need to know about pre-loading the game
