Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser shared his thoughts on the ongoing debate surrounding physical media in games.
It’s been three and a half weeks since Sony announced it would end support for physical disc games on PlayStation consoles (12,370 articles)” href=” as of January 2028, and the decision continues to spark heated debate among gamers, as well as countless pro-disc comments on Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (4,642 articles)” href=” social media channels.
Houser, who co-founded Rockstar Games (538 articles)” href=” Games then left the company in early 2020 after writing and producing some of its biggest games, including Grand Theft Auto 3-5, Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2, Bully and Max Payne 3, attended San Diego Comic Con this week to discuss his current company, Absurd Ventures.
During a conversation with IGN, Houser and Lazlow Jones—a former writer and GTA radio host who left Rockstar in 2020 before joining Absurd Ventures with Houser—were asked what they thought about the physical media debate, as well as whether they care about releasing their games on disc.
Houser responded that while we’re not crazy about releasing games on disc, he thinks they should still be available as an option for those who are.
“I don’t know if I care, but if people want it, I think companies should provide it,” he said. “But I’m not sure I personally care about that. And I also think that being able to update games is as important as people feel about digital releases – being able to update and fix problems in games has been really beneficial to the quality of games.”
Jones added that he appreciates the feeling of receiving a physical product, but also appreciates the convenience of digital releases.
“I mean, we all get that feeling when you get that copy and put the disc in the console,” he said. “But I also have to say that I really enjoy being at the airport and thinking, ‘Oh cool, I can load up some quick games on my Steam (2,919 articles)’ href=” Deck for that 12-hour flight.”
Jones also noted that the situation is different in other mediums, such as comics. Absurd Ventures is working on the American Caper comic book series, and Jones said the feeling of working on a physical comic book is especially rewarding after working in the digital video game medium for so long.
“That’s what was interesting,” he explained. “We’ve been working together digitally for years, and then making a physical product out of comics is a different creative process, but it’s also really nice to have a physical thing so you can say, ‘Look, we made a thing.’
“I love physical media,” Houser added, pointing to the latest release of American Caper, implying that he was referring specifically to books. “I think everyone does it.”
Elsewhere in the discussion, Houser mentioned two video games that Absurd Ventures is currently working on, explaining that they are both open-world games. According to Houser, one of the games is an action-adventure comedy, while the other is “definitely less of a comedy.”