Disc or Just a Code? What’s Really Inside 2026’s Boxed Games

Buy Grand Theft Auto VI in a box this month and you will not find a disc inside. Rockstar’s official store says the physical version “will only contain a download code,” which it ties to the game’s Nov. 12 pre-load, a week before the Nov. 19 launch.

GTA VI is the biggest example of a wider shift, so we looked at what 2026’s boxed games really contain. We checked 40 boxed versions of 31 games released or due this year on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2, using hands-on disc tests, publisher pages and retailer listings. In 22 of the 40, the box alone did not give you the complete game: you had to download all or part of it first.

Four kinds of box

“Physical game” now covers four quite different things, and the label on the shelf rarely makes the difference obvious:

• The full game on the disc or cartridge (17 of 40). You can install and play without going online, apart from optional patches.
• Part of the game on the disc (10). The disc holds some data, but the rest arrives as a download, or the game refuses to start until a required update is installed.
• A Nintendo Game-Key Card (9). A Switch 2 cartridge that, in Nintendo’s words, does not contain the full game data and works as a “key” to download it.
• A download code in a box (3). No disc or cartridge at all, as with GTA VI on PS5 and Xbox.

One more entry, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Deluxe Edition on Switch 2, had conflicting reports, so we did not count it either way.

Xbox discs held the least

The starkest cases were on Xbox. Of the 10 Xbox discs in our sample, six did not hold a complete, playable game, against four of the 11 PS5 discs. DoesItPlay, a site that tests game discs offline to see what works without a download, recorded these results:

• Gears of War: E-Day: only 342.1 MB on the disc, with a 109.78 GB update when the console went online in October.
• Forza Horizon 6: about 27 GB on the disc, with the rest as a download.
• Control Resonant: only the tutorial is on the disc. After it, the game asks you to wait for the download to finish.
• NBA 2K27: the disc holds 50.8 GB, but only tutorials, mini-games and one exhibition match can be played without downloading.

PS5 had its own examples. The 007 First Light disc tested by DoesItPlay held only the first mission, with a day-one patch needed for the rest. The other three PS5 discs in this group, Halo: Campaign Evolved, Crimson Desert Enhanced and Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, would not start or let you play until a required update was downloaded, according to DoesItPlay.

Same game, different box

What you get can depend on which console you buy for. Control Resonant is the clearest case: tutorial-only on the Xbox disc, but complete on the PS5 disc DoesItPlay tested.

Four Capcom and Square Enix games split the same way between PS5 and Switch 2. Resident Evil Requiem, Pragmata, Monster Hunter Stories 3 and Dragon Quest VII Reimagined all played in full from the PS5 disc, but their Switch 2 versions ship as Game-Key Cards. Size does not seem to be the reason for Resident Evil Requiem: a Nintendo listing put the Switch 2 game at 29.3 GB, GoNintendo reported.

Switch 2: big downloads behind small cards

Game-Key Cards were the most common shortcut on Switch 2, making up nine of the 17 Switch 2 entries we checked. Some come with very large downloads. Retailer listings put Final Fantasy VII Rebirth at 102.5 GB and Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade at 90 GB, both downloaded over the internet after you insert the card. Not every card hides a big download, though: Amazon and Walmart list Dragon Quest VII Reimagined at just 6 GB.

Nintendo’s own games mostly still ship complete. DoesItPlay found Splatoon Raiders, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book and Mario Tennis Fever fully playable from the cartridge, and Star Fox needs a 1.5 GB download only for its Battle Mode. The exception is Pokémon Pokopia: The Pokémon Company’s own release says the physical version is a Game-Key Card and needs at least 10 GB of free space and an internet connection.

Where this is heading

The trend has an end date on PlayStation. In a July 1 blog post, Sony said physical disc production for all new games releasing on its consoles will stop starting January 2028, after which new games will be sold in digital formats only. Games released on disc before then are not affected.

Microsoft has moved in a related direction from the other side. On Aug. 26, Xbox introduced a feature that lets players claim a digital copy of most Xbox One and Xbox Series X disc games by inserting a supported disc and launching the game, while the disc keeps working as before.

How to check before you buy

1. On Switch 2, look for the words “Game-Key Card” on the case or in the store listing, which also usually states the download size.
2. For PS5 and Xbox, search the game on DoesItPlay.org, which records how much is on the disc and what works offline.
3. Watch for “code in box” in retailer listings, as with GTA VI and the Switch 2 Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition at GameStop.
4. Make sure you have the space. A Game-Key Card or a thin disc still needs the full game on your drive, which our install-size study shows can pass 100 GB.

All 40 boxes we checked

How we checked

We focused on the year’s big releases and included complete discs as well as partial ones, so the table is not a list of only the worst cases. For PS5 and Xbox discs and for Switch 2 cartridges, we used DoesItPlay’s published test notes and read each one rather than relying on its overall rating. For Game-Key Cards, we used Nintendo and publisher pages where available and otherwise Walmart, Amazon and GameStop listings, which name the card type and often the download size. Everything was checked on Nov. 1, 2026.

Two limits apply. The sample is not random, so “22 of 40” describes these boxes, not every game sold this year. And box contents can change with later print runs, so a game listed here as partial could ship with more on the disc later, or the reverse. If you spot a box that differs from our table, write to editor[at]gameempress[dot]com and we will check it.

If you are planning to buy GTA VI on launch day, our breakdown of what GTA 6 costs around the world covers the game and console prices.