The GTA 6 physical edition has no disc, and preloading starts 12 November

The physical edition of Grand Theft Auto 6 doesn't have a disc in it. You get a box with a download code inside.

Preloading opens on 12 November, a week before the 19 November release, for both digital pre-orders and physical buyers.

What a code in a box means for you

• You need the storage either way. Estimates put the download at 150 to 200GB, though Rockstar hasn't published a figure. Clear the space before 12 November, not on the night.
• You need an internet connection to install. There's no offline install from a disc.
• You can't resell the physical copy the normal way. A download code gets used up when you redeem it, so the second-hand market for this game basically won't exist.
• Physical editions ship on 12 November, or you can collect them from retailers that day, so a code-in-box buyer can preload alongside digital buyers instead of a week behind.

Why there's no disc

A modern Blu-ray disc holds 100GB. A game estimated at 150 to 200GB doesn't fit on one, and a multi-disc physical release is expensive and unpopular. Once the install's going to be a full download anyway, the disc stops doing anything except adding cost.

That's the practical reason. The commercial one sitting behind it is that a code-in-box release wipes out the second-hand market entirely, and a used copy of Grand Theft Auto 6 would otherwise have been one of the most traded things in games retail for years.

Both are true at once. So go in clear-eyed: the convenience argument and the revenue argument point the same way here.

If you want something physical

Buy the physical edition for the box and what's in it, not for the medium. You're paying for packaging and whatever's printed inside it, plus a code that's worthless the moment you use it. That's a fine thing to want. Just know that's the deal.

Your checklist for 12 November

• Clear at least 200GB now, and more if you plan to keep other big games installed
• If you're on an external drive, remember the game will need to sit on internal storage to run
• Nobody's published the hour preloading starts, so expect the rush to hit different regions at different times
• Redeem a code-in-box the moment you've got it, since a lost code is a lost game