French Presidential Candidate Slams GTA 6, PS5’s Disc-Free Future Over Gamer Rights

The debate over gaming’s shift to all-digital distribution has now spilled into French politics. According to Destructoid, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a leading figure of the left-wing La France Insoumise party, has publicly criticized both Rockstar’s digital-only approach to Grand Theft Auto 6 and Sony’s plan to end physical disc sales for PlayStation games by 2028.

Mélenchon, who finished third in France’s 2022 presidential election with nearly 22 percent of the first-round vote, made his comments in a post on X, framing the industry’s move away from physical media as a consumer rights issue ahead of next year’s presidential election, as Destructoid reports.

“Players have rights too”

In his statement, translated by Destructoid, Mélenchon said: “With GTA 6 without a disc in 2026 and Sony’s announcement of the end of physical disc sales for games in 2028, the question arises of how we view these products. Tomorrow, you will pay without ever owning anything. No loan, no resale, no guarantee of keeping what we’ve paid for. Video games are not mere merchandise; they are cultural assets, and the law in force must apply to them. We will open the project in 2027. Players have rights too!”

His remarks tap into a growing frustration among gamers about what digital ownership actually means. As Destructoid notes, purchasing a digital game typically only grants a license to use it, one that publishers or platform holders can revoke, meaning buyers have no guarantee of resale, lending, or long-term access to what they paid for.

An industry pivoting away from physical media

Destructoid points out that the shift toward all-digital gaming has been building for years, but it reached a tipping point with the confirmation that Grand Theft Auto 6 would launch without a physical disc option, followed by Sony’s announcement that it intends to phase out physical PlayStation game sales entirely by 2028. Reports have also suggested Xbox may be moving in a similar direction.

According to Destructoid, the backlash from players over Sony’s plans has been significant enough that further political attention to the issue would not be surprising, whether driven by genuine concern over consumer protections or simply an attempt to win over a large and vocal voter base of gamers.

Will politics actually change anything?

It remains unclear whether Mélenchon’s comments will translate into concrete policy proposals or simply serve as a talking point in the run-up to France’s next presidential election. Destructoid raises the question of whether lawmakers can meaningfully intervene in how publishers and platform holders structure digital ownership, or whether this is largely symbolic political positioning.

Either way, the fact that a major national political figure is weighing in on GTA 6 and PlayStation’s disc-free future underscores just how far the conversation around digital ownership has spread beyond gaming circles. With Sony’s 2028 timeline still years away, expect the debate over ownership, resale rights, and cultural preservation of games to keep intensifying.

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