The "GTA6" disc controversy is not over yet, and the controversy has even spread to French politics. French presidential candidate and left-wing veteran Jean-Lun Melenchon posted on social media criticizing "GTA 6" and Sony's suspension of PlayStation physical disks. He believes this should be used as an opportunity to protect video games.
In the 2022 French presidential election, Melenchon received nearly 22% of the first-round votes and ranked third. He plans to raise the issue of the game industry's abandonment of physical media to the level of consumer rights and make it one of the important issues before the French presidential election next year (2027).
France has long regarded films, books and music as cultural assets and has developed special rules and subsidy policies, known as "cultural exceptions." Melenchon proposed extending this philosophy to video games, arguing that they should also enjoy the same protective status.
Analysts say Sony abandoned physical discs to eliminate second-hand transactions and increase profits.
However, the media believes that even if some politicians want to enforce the implementation of physical CDs or regulate ownership, there are still many legal obstacles to overcome in order to truly take action against multinational companies. French law, EU rules and the international nature of Sony and Rockstar would complicate any unilateral action.
"So, for now, this is just a politically convenient talking point and a well-timed policy suggestion. Don't expect it to bring GTA6 back to the market on disc."
Regardless of the outcome, the fact that a French national politician openly discussed the "disc-less future" of "GTA 6" and PlayStation shows that the debate about digital ownership is no longer limited to the gaming community, but is becoming a public issue at the social and political level.
Melenchon tweeted:
As "GTA 6" will no longer be available on physical discs in 2026, and Sony announced that it will stop selling physical discs of the game in 2028, a question arises: How should we view these products?
In the future, you'll pay for games but may never actually own anything.
It cannot be lent to others, cannot be resold, and there is no guarantee that the content you purchase will be kept forever.
Video games are not just commodities;
They are also cultural assets, so the relevant laws should also apply to them.
We will launch this project in 2027.
Players also have their own rights!
The media Destructoid pointed out that purchasing a digital version of a game usually only means that the player has obtained a "license", rather than actually owning the product itself. In theory, the publisher or platform has the right to revoke this permission, which means players will lose the following rights:
Be able to freely resell the games you purchased;
Ability to lend games to friends or family;
Ability to permanently retain and access content you have paid for.
In other words, a digital purchase is more of a "long-term rental license" than ownership in the traditional sense.
In fact, physical games are still very popular in Japan:
