Rockstar Co-Founder Says ‘if People Want’ Physical Game Releases Then ‘Companies Should Provide It’

Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser believes that, if players want their games released on physical media, then “companies should provide it.”

The former Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption developer opened up about the state of physical media in the gaming space during a conversation with IGN at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) 2026. He didn’t have a strong opinion when asked if he personally cares about physical versus digital releases, but when it comes to others, his thoughts were pretty cut and dry.

“I don’t know that I care, but if people want that, I think companies should provide it,” Houser said. “But I don’t know that I personally care.

“I also think that, as critical as people are of digital releases, the ability to update and fix problems in games has been really useful for the quality of games.”

The question arrives as gamers of every background take to social media to sound off about recent changes in the physical and digital gaming space. PlayStation has found itself in headlines for weeks after confirming it would cease production of new physical games starting in January 2028. Funnily enough, Rockstar has also been involved in the conversation, with Grand Theft Auto fans still coming to terms with confirmation that GTA 6 will not ship on a disc when it launches this November.

Lazlow Jones, who worked with Houser at Rockstar before leaving to join him at Absurd Ventures, was also in attendance at SDCC. In his response to the question, he explained his relationship with both physical and digital games.

“We all have that sort of feeling when you get that copy, and you put the disc in the console, but I also have to say I really like being at the airport and going, ‘Oh, cool. I can download some quick games to my Steam Deck for this 12-hour flight.’

“That’s what’s been interesting. We’ve worked in digital together for a lot of years, and then making a physical product of a comic book is a different creative process but also just really fulfilling to have a physical thing you can say, ‘Look. We made a thing.'”

Houser interjected: “I love physical media.”

The Rockstar co-founder isn’t the first developer to share his thoughts about the state of physical media. Nier creator Yoko Taro, Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima, and Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot are just a few of the names who have chimed in with thoughts recently.

For now, Houser is at Absurd Ventures, a company he founded and officially announced in 2023. For more on his thoughts on the industry, you can see what he had to say about how people play open-world games.

Photo by Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).