Retailers VGP and Loot Box Gaming drop GTA 6 over its code-in-a-box physical edition, GamesRadar+ reports

Two specialist game shops said they would not sell GTA 6 after it emerged that the boxed version holds only a code for a digital copy, GamesRadar+ reported on June 24, 2026. The shops were VGP, a Canadian retailer popular with collectors, and Loot Box Gaming, a US store.

VGP posted on Bluesky that its company policy is not to carry console products that "contain only a digital download code". It said the decision was not a judgment on the game, and that it has "tremendous respect for Rockstar Games". The retailer added that it would be pleased to stock a version with a disc in the box, should Rockstar ever release one.

Loot Box Gaming said in a post on X that it "will not be supporting the release of GTA 6". Its statement argued that a product unable to honor its paying customers was not one the shop should sell. GamesRadar+ said it was much less familiar with the US shop than with VGP.

The report gave some context on how common code-in-a-box releases already were. Circana analyst Mat Piscatella said on Bluesky that 146 games had featured code-in-box versions in the US to date, and that 30 had sold at least 1,000 such copies so far in 2026. GamesRadar+ said Piscatella suspected the move would not hurt GTA 6 sales in any notable way. That is his view, not a measured result.

The report did not say that any large retailer had dropped the game. It named only these two smaller shops, carried no comment from Rockstar, and did not say whether either shop might change its mind.

Since then, Take-Two chief executive Strauss Zelnick has declined to rule out a disc version of GTA 6 in future. The price, the editions and the missing disc are covered in a separate story from June 24.