Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser says if people want games on disc ‘companies should provide it’
Houser was the lead writer on almost every Grand Theft Auto game to date
Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser has given his view on the ongoing debate around physical media in games.
It has now been three and a half weeks since Sony announced that physical disc games will be discontinued for PlayStation consoles from January 2028, and the decision continues to see fierce debate among players, as well as countless pro-disc comments on Sony‘s social media channels.
Houser – who co-founded Rockstar Games then left in early 2020, having written and produced 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 – the former GTA radio station writer and presenter who left Rockstar in 2020 before joining Absurd Ventures with Houser – were asked their views on the physical media debate, and whether they cared about seeing their games released on discs.
Houser replied that while we wasn’t necessarily enthusiastic about having games on disc, he believes it should still be available as an option for those who are.
“I don’t know that I care, but if people want that, I think companies should provide it,” he said. “But I don’t know that I personally care. And I also think that the ability to update games – 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.”
Jones added that he appreciated the feeling of receiving a physical product, but also appreciated the convenience of digital releases.
“I mean, we all have that sort of feeling when you get that copy and you put the disc in the console,” he said. “But I also have to say I really like being at the airport and going ‘oh cool, I can download some quick games to my Steam Deck for this 12-hour flight’.
Jones also noted that the situation is different for other mediums, such as comics. Absurd Ventures works on the American Caper comic series, and Jones said the feeling of working on a physical comic book is particularly rewarding after working on the digital medium of video games for so long.
“That’s what’s been interesting,” he explained. “We’ve worked in digital together for a lot of years and then making a physical product of a comic book is a different creative process, but it’s also just really fulfilling to have a physical thing so you can say ‘look, we made a thing’.”
“I love physical media,” Houser added, pointing to the latest issue of American Caper, implying he specifically meant books. “I think everyone does.”
Elsewhere in the discussion, Houser mentioned the two video games Absurd Ventures is currently working on, explaining that they’re both open-world games. According to Houser, one of these games is a comedy action adventure, while the other is “definitely less of a comedy”.
