GTA 6 download codes will expire in Japan 170 days after launch

Download codes for Grand Theft Auto 6 sold in Japan will stop working on May 8, 2027, 170 days after the game’s November 19 launch. Rockstar Games states the expiry on its support page and attributes it to “regional regulations”, GamesIndustry.biz reports.

Those regulations are Japan’s Payment Services Act, enforced by the country’s Financial Services Agency. IGN reports that the law requires sellers of digital codes to reserve funds against the possibility that the issuing company ceases operations, and that the requirement does not apply to products which expire in less than six months. A 170-day window sits inside that threshold.

The expiry matters more than it usually would because of how the game is being sold. Rockstar announced in June that physical copies of Grand Theft Auto 6 would contain a download code rather than a disc, which makes the code the only route into the game for buyers who chose a boxed copy.

The dates line up as follows for buyers in Japan: the game arrives on November 19, and any unredeemed download code from a boxed copy stops working on May 8, 2027. Rockstar’s support page does not set out what happens to a code redeemed after that date.

A wider move away from discs

Rockstar’s decision preceded Sony’s announcement that it will discontinue physical disc production for new PlayStation games from January 2028. Sony said the change was made “in response to shifting trends in consumer preference and the broader entertainment industry” as it moves from physical to digital formats, and later clarified to developers and publishers that they can still reorder existing PlayStation discs after the production end date.

Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser has weighed in on the debate over physical releases, saying that companies should provide them if players want them, while also crediting digital distribution for letting studios repair games after release.