Rockstar Games won’t sell you a disc of Grand Theft Auto VI. It will, however, sell you two transparent magenta vinyl discs filled with blue liquid.
That’s the strange shape of the news this week. Pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto VI: The Album went live yesterday, which means the most anticipated game in a decade now has an official physical release. Just not the one anybody was asking for.
The game itself arrives 19 November on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, digital only. Rockstar’s decision to skip physical copies landed badly with fans, and nothing about the soundtrack announcement changes that. You still can’t put GTA VI on a shelf.
What you’re actually buying
On the official site, the album comes on CD or vinyl. The vinyl splits into two editions, standard and limited. If you’d rather not own anything at all, you can pre-save it on Apple Music and Spotify.
The CD runs $19.98/£10.99. The standard vinyl is $49.98/£44.99. The limited edition vinyl set, the one with the magenta discs and the blue liquid inside them plus exclusive artwork and packaging, costs $124.98/£108.99.
Rockstar has revealed a handful of tracks so far. The full soundtrack is still unheard, which is its own kind of marketing: you’re pre-ordering a record you’ve mostly not listened to, for a game you’ve barely seen.
The shortages say something
Multiple sites selling the album have already hit stock shortages. Read that next to Rockstar’s digital-only call and the picture gets pointed. People still want physical things. They’re proving it by buying the one physical thing on offer.
It’s an odd trade. You can own the music from the game. You cannot own the game.
Where the game stands
Grand Theft Auto VI is the eighth main installment in the series and the first in well over a decade. Two major delays got it here. Two months separate us from launch.
It’s set in the state of Leonida, inspired by real-life Florida. The story follows Jason and Lucia, a Bonnie and Clyde-esque couple, working their way into the criminal underbelly of the city. Players can switch between the two.
Fans got their first look at gameplay last month, during a showcase that came out of a collaboration between Rockstar and Netflix. Put that footage next to the original Grand Theft Auto from 1997 and the distance is hard to process.
A disc for the music, a download for everything else
The album is a genuinely handsome piece of merchandise. That’s what makes the whole thing land sideways.
Rockstar clearly understands the appeal of an object you can hold. The packaging, the artwork, the liquid-filled discs, all of it is designed for a collector who wants proof of purchase on a shelf.
And then that same collector downloads the game.
The hope now is that the reception here nudges Rockstar toward a different call next time. The demand is documented. It’s sitting in sold-out carts on the album’s own storefront.
Two magenta discs, filled with blue liquid, $124.98. The game they’re named after doesn’t come in a box.
