That’s way, the people with slow Internet will have a nice box to look at while their download fail.
Comment on GTA 6 Price Finally Confirmed, Features a 'Single-Player Experience' at Launch
NONE_dc@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
OK, seriously now: Why bother saying you’re going to “release a physical version” that’s nothing more than a code inside an empty plastic box? I really don’t get it.
Frenchgeek@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
NONE_dc@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Now that’s a reasonable response lol
lorty@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
To sell in physical stores so parents and other people can buy them as gifts.
NONE_dc@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
OK, but why an nearly empty box!? Why not, idk, a card with the code or something? Why a goddamn box with a little piece of paper in it? At least Nintendo’s key-cards are something (shitty, but something nonetheless)
lorty@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
It needs to look as much of as a game as the others, that’s why they make a box for a code.
Which is a stupid reason but sales people are like this so.
thingsiplay@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
I’m not entirely sure, but the game disc can still be sold. Isn’t it? If it is just a code you enter and then don’t need the disc anymore, then you cannot sell it. Its basically a digital code only, like on Steam / PC. But if the game disc acts as a license, then it will download the rest of the game and you still need the disc to play. In that case you can sell the disc and no longer play the game. Similar to how game key cards work on Switch 2.
Another reason why big publishers want to have a physical release is, that they have a presence everywhere where “normal” games are also sold. Maybe your mom buys it for you, or a friend gives a gift.
NONE_dc@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
But what’s the use of the box in “code-in-a-box”? It’s so fucking useless is insulting.
dudeface@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Would you rather it be sold as a piece of cardboard with a scratch off reveal code?
NONE_dc@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Low key yes.
Well, not cardboard. Maybe plastic, so it has more prestige, it’s more collectible and gift-able. But generally speaking, yes.
It would feel less like a middle finger to consumers. Or else, if they want to kill the physical format, they should just do it. That fucking empty box makes them look like dicks.
thingsiplay@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
I just told you a few reasons from both sides. Another reason I can think of is, game cannot leak before official download day. The biggest reason probably is, because its cheaper to produce.
MurrayL@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
To play devil’s advocate: physical disc releases are a security nightmare.
Pirate groups pay big money to get access to disc images before release so they can have a crack ready on day 1, and leakers would love to get early access so they can drip feed information for social media cred. The bounty for an early iso of GTA VI would be astronomical.
I do however agree that releasing a ‘physical edition’ that’s just a code in a box is a waste of everyone’s time and money, not to mention materials destined for landfill.
NONE_dc@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
My problem isn’t so much that the box is empty (though that’s part of it), but rather: Why sell an empty box in the first place? Why not focus on digital and stop wasting everyone’s time?
Itsamelemmy@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Because people still want to buy the box? And this makes it so you can’t resell it. So they are focusing on the part of digital they care about, no resell. While still getting sales that are bought as gifts or people that have a physical collection and want the case.
colderr@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Some stores have said that they won’t sell the physical copy of GTA 6, due to it being just a code.
There are some rumors going around that a physical disc copy of the game comes out in December, so I guess it’s better than nothing, but still sucks.
sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Same question:
Why are funko pops?
Same answer.
SolarPunker@slrpnk.net 2 weeks ago
Many retail games still allow you to have the full game without any account to a service or internet connection.
NONE_dc@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
How does that work with a “Code-in-a-box”?
SolarPunker@slrpnk.net 2 weeks ago
Oh sorry, I missed that part,. No disc means you don’t own it, that’s a big red flag for me.
socsa@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
So people can give it as a physical gift. That’s really it.
NONE_dc@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Gift cards exist. Why not gift cards shaped videogames? Why a nearly empty box?
halcyoncmdr@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Some people like to still have the box for collection purposes. Personally, I agree. I think the only physical option at this point should be something like a collectible steelbook if all they’re going to have is a redemption code.
NONE_dc@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Yeah, Steelbooks and the like make sense, but wanting to buy a piece of plastic that’s just a waste of space… It’s the worse of physical and the digital format, the worse of both worlds.
(The anti Hannah Montana!)
dalekcaan@feddit.nl 2 weeks ago
But does it run on Hannah Montana Linux?
BigBananaDealer@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
i like starfields steelbook. the code is on a real version of the in game credits. its heavy and fun to hold
Skunk@jlai.lu 2 weeks ago
BigBananaDealer - 2026
ericwdhs@discuss.online 2 weeks ago
Huge “I like shorts. They’re comfy and easy to wear.” energy.