"You just lost yourself a customer!"

    

This is exactly how I feel about Rockstar right now. I even Tweeted them.  So what am I upset about? In case you're just waking up and haven't gone online yet (wait, you have to be online to read this, don't you?), Rockstar just announced that Grand Theft Auto VI, the biggest and most anticipated game of all time will be 80 dollars (Ok, I was kinda expecting that) and DIGITAL ONLY! Well, they're selling a physical case, but with no disc. There will only be a code in the case. And so my interest just waned completely. 

   

So what's the big deal? A lot of games are digital only!

True, a lot of them are. And well, this is how it's been in the PC market for a long time, but in the console market, just about every huge release has always had a disc. Also, digital only games are usually common among indie and smaller developers, and well, Rockstar is neither of those; they are insanely rich. They've spent somewhere around two billion dollars developing Grant Theft Auto VI, and they'll make that money back in no time. The moment they get GTA Online going on GTA VI, that's when it will really start to print money. So... don't tell me they couldn't just press discs. 

Well, you know the full game wouldn't be on the disc anyway!

True, but if you know me, I'm an advocate of physical copies, and of the second hand market. I'm an advocate of games being allowed to be resold, because by allowing a second hand market to exist, it only increases the accessibility for more gamers. Gaming is an expensive hobby, and a lot of gamers only have enough consumable income to only buy their games used. By not pressing discs - and just having the key on the disc - this has effectively removed GTA VI -  the biggest console game of all time - from the used market. This means the price will stay at 80 dollars. But the sad thing about this is that multiple disc games exist and are still being made. Rockstar could have easily gone this route. 

So...what? You're just not going to play GTA VI? You're gonna cave and buy it anyway!

Yep, GTA VI is off my radar, and no, I will not cave and buy it. I can wait them out until they put the game on disc, and they may never do that. I also know that by me holding out, I will be applying very little pressure on Rockstar to do so as I'm sure millions of empty boxes have already been preordered on Amazon by now. I've caved on other games that didn't get a physical copy, such as Hellblade 2, but there's just something different about this one, something different about this one because of Rockstar's situation, and how they could very well influence the industry standard, swinging the pendulum entirely the wrong way. 

I don't want to see 80 dollar games be the default. Nintendo's already pushing for that, and Microsoft tried that with The Outer Limits 2, but got laughed out of the room. So, I'm not expecting that to change. I just don't want to see gamers forced to adopt 80 dollar games that are digital only with the guise of empty boxes thinking they're getting something physical. Rockstar should just skip the code boxes entirely, because all they're doing is creating plastic waste. Just think of the millions of EMPTY discs that are being shuttled around the globe by USP and postal services, wasting fuel from delivery vehicles and eating into delivery companies' time. I know there won't be nearly enough gamers with the resolve to form an effective boycott, but I refuse to be a +1 to Rockstar currently, so I'm sitting this out.

So when it comes to not playing GTA VI, oh well. Let me show you something. This is my Backloggery.  I have over 200 games that I still need to play, plus like six or seven games coming out this summer. And I'm still nowhere close to beating Crimson Desert! These are mores games than I can ever play in my lifetime, so while everyone else is playing Grand Theft Auto VI, I'll be working on my backlog. Yes, I will will always wonder how great GTA VI will be and wish that I could be part of the conversation. I won't lie; the monkey will be on my back. But you know what? I passed on GTA V at launch. I didn't buy it until PS4, and if I knew it was going to go to PS5, I would have waited still. So, I'm going to hold out on an actual physical copy. I want to truly own my copy of GTA VI. If that means I have to hold out for years, or even never play it at all, I'm good. I'll be sad, but I'll be good. 

I hate the way gaming is right now. I hate the price of the Steam Machine, and I hate how the price of everything else keeps going up... but that's an entirely different blog..