GTA VI: download only
The foundation cited the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI, one of the most feverously anticipated games in history, as part of the problem. Frank Cifaldi, the organisation’s director, called Sony’s decision “unfortunate news” for gamers who still preferred physical media. Cifaldi said it was also unfortunate for those who seek to preserve history, such as museums and archives, and that asking people to download a copy of GTA VI and hope that it will still run in half a century’s time was “not a preservation solution.”
iGaming has no such concerns
In other areas of the gaming industry, there is less of a concern around preserving history. Slots are still extremely popular and some of the most widely played games at online casinos, even with the advent of video poker and dozens of other formats. Developers like NetEnt and Pragmatic Play regularly release variations of long-time favourites. Sweet Bonanza is one of Pragmatic Play’s most famous slots and offers an average of 96.48% return-to-player (RTP) and high volatility. The game is available at many casinos around the world may appeal to players in South Africa. There is not the same clamour for these games to remain available in their original states; slots players know that game libraries may look totally different in a year or five years’ time.
GTA VI represents an ongoing fight
Games writer Eliza Crichton-Stuart said that the current situation was absurd. Cultural institutions, Crichton-Stuart argued, should not have to improvise workarounds when there are legal provisions that should allow their jobs to be more straightforward.
Gamers are also concerned with preservation for their more immediate sake. Movements like Stop Killing Games attempt to keep titles playable even after servers shut down. That, games.gg pointed out, was a consumer rights issue. But museums and organisations like the Video Game History Foundation are more concerned with legal legitimacy. They cannot afford, and would not wish, to operate on piracy. That particular foundation pushed for a DMCA exemption that would allow such institutions to preserve and provide research access to games. The Copyright Office denied the proposal, after years of efforts, in 2024 following opposition from industry groups like the Entertainment Software Association.
GTA VI is download only (the physical product will include a code to enter, rather than a disc), but that will not stop its supreme sales. The Guardian reported that Rockstar could make even more money than it did from GTA V. Some news outlets have claimed that the new game made $1 billion in its first hour of pre-orders. Rockstar will hope the eventual revenue is far higher as the company reportedly spent more than a billion on development.
GTA V lives on
The predecessor, according to Game Rant, took an extra two days to reach the billion-dollar mark. GTA V is one of the best-selling games of all time but its sequel looks set to dwarf its reported total revenue of $10 billion.
According to Player Auctions, GTA V still had 166,828 players as of early July 2026. The publication called it one of the most popular games of all time.
The 2013 title holds a rarely-achieved 97/100 score on Metacritic; its Xbox One and PS4 update received rave reviews from Eurogamer Italy, Game Revolution and many others. Slant Magazine claimed that GTA V was Rockstar’s “midlife crisis”, but that despite the hostility and extravagance it had a fascinating depth.
That depth explains why over 100,000 players continue returning to the game. Just as the critics were, players have been fascinated by “bad things happening to good people”. Rockstar has not quite admitted the pressure of following such a classic, but the company acknowledged the disappointment for the series’ legion of fans when announcing a delayed release date of November 2026. Take-Two, the holding company that owns Rockstar, has spoken about the pressures of rising development costs.
Whether any game can live up to the hype of GTA VI is debatable. Players frantically post on the dedicated subreddit and have done for months (and years) before release day. Fans follow news – whether the release of a trailer, a single new image, or information from Rockstar developers about their pay – with unparalleled eagerness. But as the Video Game History Foundation and other archivists may point out, all this digital activity – and the game itself – may be lost in time.
