{"id":826394,"date":"2026-07-26T02:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T02:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/826394\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T02:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T02:52:08","slug":"rockstar-co-founder-dan-houser-says-if-people-want-physical-game-releases-then-companies-should-provide-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/826394\/","title":{"rendered":"Rockstar Co-Founder Dan Houser Says if People Want Physical Game Releases Then Companies Should Provide It"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser believes that, if players want their games released on physical media, then &#8220;companies should provide it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/dan-houser-says-gta-6-will-be-great-but-thinks-the-world-probably-had-enough-gta-from-me-in-first-comments-since-leaving-rockstar\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">former<\/a> Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption developer opened up about the state of physical media in the gaming space during a conversation with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=aEWBnmqu5xQ\" class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">IGN<\/a> at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) 2026. He didn&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;I don&#8217;t know that I care, but if people want that, I think companies should provide it,&#8221; Houser said. &#8220;But I don&#8217;t know that I personally care.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;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.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The question arrives as <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/we-are-deeply-saddened-games-retailers-and-historians-respond-to-playstation-abandoning-physical-media\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">gamers of every background take to social media<\/a> to sound off about recent changes in the physical and digital gaming space. PlayStation has found itself in headlines for weeks after <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/sony-just-killed-discs-physical-disc-production-to-end-january-2028-for-new-games-releasing-on-playstation-consoles\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">confirming it would cease production of new physical games starting in January 2028<\/a>. Funnily enough, Rockstar has also been involved in the conversation, with Grand Theft Auto fans still coming to terms with confirmation that <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/grand-theft-auto-6-physical-copies-wont-include-a-disc-will-just-be-a-code-in-a-box\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">GTA 6 will not ship on a disc when it launches this November<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">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.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;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, &#8216;Oh, cool. I can download some quick games to my Steam Deck for this 12-hour flight.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Every IGN Rockstar Game Review Ever<img alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" decoding=\"async\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2896921488 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;That&#8217;s what&#8217;s been interesting. We&#8217;ve worked in digital together for a lot of years, and then making a physical product of<a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/american-caper-from-absurd-ventures-dan-houser-is-getting-a-double-sized-season-finale-issue-12-exclusive-comic-con-2026\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> a comic book<\/a> is a different creative process but also just really fulfilling to have a physical thing you can say, &#8216;Look. We made a thing.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Houser interjected: &#8220;I love physical media.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The Rockstar co-founder isn&#8217;t the first developer to share his thoughts about the state of physical media. Nier creator <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/nier-creator-yoko-taro-mourns-death-of-physical-media-as-playstation-plans-to-end-production-of-game-discs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Yoko Taro<\/a>, Metal Gear Solid creator <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/hideo-kojima-warns-of-frightening-digital-future-after-playstation-reveals-plan-to-end-physical-disc-production\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hideo Kojima<\/a>, and <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/playstation-killing-discs-has-upsides-ubisoft-boss-yves-guillemot-says-pointing-to-cheaper-consoles-without-disc-drives\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot<\/a> are just a few of the names who have chimed in with thoughts recently.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">For now, Houser is at Absurd Ventures, a company he <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/rockstar-games-co-founder-dan-houser-announces-new-studio-absurd-ventures\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">founded and officially announced in 2023<\/a>. For more on his thoughts on the industry, you can see what he had to say about <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/rockstar-co-founder-dan-houser-says-theres-no-right-way-to-play-an-open-world-game-tribeca-festival-2026\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">how people play open-world games<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Photo by Chelsea Guglielmino\/Getty Images.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He&#8217;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).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser believes that, if players want their games released on physical media, then &#8220;companies&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":826395,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49,48,61],"class_list":["post-826394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=826394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/826395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=826394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=826394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=826394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}