During Take-Two Interactive's August 7 earnings and investors' call for fiscal Q1 2027, CEO Strauss Zelnick was asked about Sony's recent decision to stop manufacturing physical PlayStation game discs after January 2028. Zelnick declined to comment directly on Sony's choice but said Take-Two's own business is "well over 90 percent digitally distributed" and is "already a digital business." He added that for certain titles, "especially if it is a big game, discs...don't really make sense for the consumer," noting that most games already require online registration to play, so downloading digitally is "much more convenient."
Zelnick's comments came as Take-Two's Rockstar Games prepares to release Grand Theft Auto 6, the industry's most anticipated upcoming title, without a traditional disc at launch. Physical copies found in stores will instead contain a download code. Zelnick said this reflects where "the world is going," though he stressed physical editions won't disappear entirely, comparing them to vinyl records that persist in the music industry: "That doesn't mean we won't have physical editions now and then...but in other instances, it just won't make sense."
Take-Two is not alone in this stance. According to reporting from GamesRadar+ and Eurogamer, Capcom has made similar remarks, noting that roughly 90 percent of its own sales are digital and that it is not particularly concerned about the shift away from physical media. Sega has also stated that a "digital shift is crucial" for the industry's long-term health. Eurogamer cited analyst Daniel Ahmad, who noted that physical games made up around 2 percent of Take-Two's revenue this quarter and 3 percent for the previous full fiscal year, underscoring how digitally oriented the company and industry have become.
Beyond the physical media discussion, Take-Two used the call to revise its fiscal 2027 net bookings outlook upward, from $8 billion to a range of $8 to $8.2 billion, citing strong momentum ahead of Grand Theft Auto 6's November 19 launch. Zelnick said pre-orders for the game have been "unprecedented," though he cautioned that the company does not yet know how that will translate into final sales and does not want to "claim victory before it occurs." Eurogamer also noted a recently announced exclusive deal with Netflix to air a new deep dive into the game.
The earnings call also revealed some softer results elsewhere: Take-Two's mobile business fell 7 percent in the quarter, though Zelnick attributed this mainly to comparisons against a strong previous year rather than any specific shortfall, and said mobile remains a significant driver of revenue. Despite the overall strength of the results, Take-Two's stock opened down 1.9 percent the day of the call, trading at $228.20 a share. GamesRadar+ noted that while publishers have largely embraced the shift to digital, backlash over ownership concerns continues, citing movements such as Stop Killing Games.