Rockstar Games has announced that pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto VI will begin on June 25, however here are things you need to know before you do that.
GTA VI will be releasing on PS5 and XBOX Series X|S as a single player game.
How much does GTA VI cost?
There is a standard edition base game priced at £69.99/$79.99 and an Ultimate edition priced at £89.99/$99.99.
The Standard & Ultimate edition will have a pre-order bonus titled: Vintage Vice City Pack includes: a vehicle called the ’55 Vapid Stanier’, access to different outfits and hairstyles, Tommy Vercetti’s styled weapons in this Vintage pack. Both edition pre-orders also come with 1 month GTA+ subscription, although you have activate the subscription and auto renew is turned on automatically until cancelled.
Ultimate edition of GTA VI
In addition to the Vintage Vice City pack, here is what the standard won’t have which is locked behind this Ultimate edition paywall contains:
- ’95 Grotti Cheetah
- Hawk and Little Morgan Revolvers
- Personalized Weapon Variants
- Vice City Style
- Jason’s Safehouse Vehicles
- Ganado Retro Build
- Rideout Customs Mod Shop
- Sara’s Unisex Salon
- Shitzu Squalo
- Stock 305 Clothing Store
- ’67 Vapid Dominator Buggy
- Estudio Electric Fang Tattoo
- One-Eyed Willie’s Mod Shop
- Goodtime Gear
- PTT Youngin$ Compound
- Classic Car Collection
No disc is in the ‘physical version’
According to Take Two Interactive’s press release, there is no discs going to be available for the so-called ‘physical version’; the cases contain a digital download code for the game:
‘Players who pre-order digital versions of Grand Theft Auto VI will be able to begin pre-loading on November 12, 2026 to ensure they are able to play at launch on November 19, 2026. The physical version of Grand Theft Auto VI, containing a download code inside the box, will be available starting November 12, 2026 to support pre-loading.’
Grand Theft Auto VI is now on the Smyths toys UK page and in the description they state: ‘This product will only contain a download code inside the box to support pre-load starting on November 12. A disc will not be included in the box.’ Amazon has also listed the physical version as a ‘code in box’ only.
This could set a dangerous precedent for other developers to do the same for future releases, which also leads to damaging the secondhand market. Consumers can’t resell a digital game, or buy it cheaper secondhand later on like they can with physical media, it’s not tangible for collectors either besides an empty case, which may or not include a map. Is it possible that Rockstar could launch disc months later for GTA VI? There’s always a possibility, although there’s no sign of that yet.
One example of a digital only release is Techland’s Dying Light: The Beast, which did not distribute on physical media and therefore lacked buying be able to buy it cheaper on the secondhand market; the game launched in September, 2025 at £59.99 on PlayStation store, and as of June 25, 2026, the price for Standard edition on PS store is £57.99. Dying Light The Beast did end up selling over 1.5 million digital copies across all platforms post launch.
Two retailers so far have already pulled out of selling the game based on available information of GTA VI being without a physical disc.
North America’s premier independent videogame retailer/distributor: Video Game Plus issues a statement regarding this:
‘For nearly 40 years, VGP has been committed to supporting physical media and preserving the value of physical game ownership. As part of that commitment, our company policy is that we do not carry physical products for video game consoles that contain only a digital download code.
Based on the information currently available, the physical release of Grand Theft Auto VI for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X is expected to be a code-in-box product. As a result, VGP will not be offering it for sale under our current company policy.’
Second independent retailer Lootbox Gaming US also expressed concern about the future of physical media, as well as not choosing to support a case being shipped only with a download code and no disc:
‘When we started LBG, it was out of a love for our favorite form of media, gaming, as-well as the preservation of said media. If a product can’t honor the people who pay their hard earned money to purchase it, then we have no business trying to sell it to our customers whom we value above anything else.’
In the midst of Rockstar Games’ discless GTA VI news, Fans online expressed concern if Wolverine would end up without a disc, Insomniac Games has confirmed online that Wolverine will be getting a disc in the box for the physical versions of the game.
When does Grand Theft Auto VI launch?
Grand Theft Auto VI launches on November 19, 2026.
Has this affected you getting the game? Have your say in the comments below.
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