GTAV Download only?!

[Vergil'sBitch]

Grand Theft Auto V to be download only?

A games industry analyst has predicted that Grand Theft Auto V will not be released on disc and that even though you'll be able to buy it in shops, the box will come only with a download code.

Although Rockstar has never hinted at any such plans, the CEO of market research firm Newzoo is convinced that, 'the boxed GTA V version will contain a collectible piece of merchandise and a download code. No disc.'

'There are a lot of reasons why publishers are pushing towards digital distribution of triple A games. Speaking out loud might harm the relationship with retail partners, but the benefits have become too large to remain silent about the desire to go completely digital. The ultimate objective being to launch games faster, create continuous revenues on a title and simply to make more money,' reported website IndustryGamers.

'Will retail disappear from the picture? Of course not. Retail will always remain an important channel to promote and distribute games. Retail has a strong hand to play when it comes to eyeballs and… boxes make a nice gift. Boxed games will not disappear, but what is in the box will.'

Although it makes a good headline for the company the truth is all this sounds incredibly unlikely. It's true that publishers would like to go download only, but as IndustryGamers points out Xbox 360s don't come with a hard drive as standard, so it seems madness to make such a big game require one.

There's also the fact that the two download packs for Grand Theft Auto IV didn't sell quite as well as Rockstar expected, and had to be released at retail before they made a real impact.

Of course Rockstar are the only company more unpredictable and secretive than Nintendo, so anything's possible. Perhaps there's some technical feature in Grand Theft Auto V that requires a hard drive and the game will come bundled with one?

We might find out for sure when the first trailer for the game is released late this afternoon - then again we might not as it's likely to be only a fairly vague teaser.

I wouldn't be surprised if this did happen, but i wouldn't be happy either... it's what i like to call 'alienating fans'

 

[Dark Drakan]

I wouldn't be surprised if this did happen, but i wouldn't be happy either... it's what i like to call 'alienating fans'

As i said in a previous thread I 'highly' doubt it would happen, it might be a choice (like other digital distribution services) but it definitely wont be a download only game. Just wouldnt be smart marketing to restrict it to people who have internet on their consoles, enough Hard Drive space to store it or those 360 gamers who still dont own Hard Drives for example. Rockstar know how to market games and it just wouldnt make sense.

It was a prediction more than a proper story because of all the piracy in the gaming industry. I mean it was only a couple of days ago that media sources were predicting GTA V would be set in real world L.A. etc and that turned out to be nothing but wishful thinking on some publications parts.

Best rule of thumb for games articles is usually to stop reading after the line 'A games industry analyst has predicted....'

Just read a quote by another site that had the following to say:

On the presumption that GTA V will be released for the current generation of machines it’s almost impossible to believe that Rockstar would choose to alienate such a large proportion of its potential target audience by adopting the strategy.

Not only do a high percentage of console owners have a small capacity HDD (or in the case of some Xbox 360 owners, no hard drive at all), but internet infrastructure would make the downloading of such a vast game – likely to be 8GB at the very, very least – a very unsavoury proposition for many.

(So pretty much what I thought straight away)

 

[TheDarkSlayer]

Oh c'mon! I hate it when they do this!
F#ck this "digital is the future" thing!

 

[lorddemolatron]

Im not suprised, If this game will be mostly protected from reupload on another sites

 

[Dark Drakan]

Oh c'mon! I hate it when they do this!
F#ck this "digital is the future" thing!

They havent done anything yet its merely analyst speculation.

 

[Angelo Credo]

Extremely unlikely, brick and mortar stores still get too much business to ignore and the major reason most people buy from retail stores is because, like myself, they don't exactly have the most amazing internet connection in the world.
Especially when you consider that the UK's internet on the whole sucks gratuitous amounts of nob, high download speeds for large games in quite a few areas of the country is just out of the question.