A social media influencer from Arkansas who goes by Papa DX said he paid around $1,500 to buy what a website claimed was an unreleased PS5 copy of Grand Theft Auto 6. He documented the purchase and the unboxing in a video posted to his account, which has 588.6K followers and 7.1M likes.
In the video, Papa DX said he found a site on the dark web that listed an unreleased copy of the game for $1,500. He said the site had more than one copy available, not just a single listing.
He said he decided to go through with the purchase “for the sake of an entertaining TikTok.” Four days later, the package arrived, and he opened it on camera.
Creator pointed out warning signs before opening the package
Before opening the box, Papa DX said the listing had a few issues that concerned him. He said the artwork on the listing was “rather low quality” and that the rating for the item had not been finished yet. Buyers looking for the game before its release have run into similar problems elsewhere, including sellers flipping GTA 6 pre-orders on other platforms.
He still went ahead with the unboxing. Reacting to the packaging, he joked, “I didn’t know the dark web had Amazon Prime.”
When he opened the package, he found a DVD instead of a PS5 game case. He said, “That doesn’t look like Grand Theft Auto 6 to me. This is a DVD.”
After confirming that the item was not the game he had ordered, Papa DX said, “My friends, I think we got trolled.”
The video briefly shows a clip from the DVD, which appears to be a comedy skit. Papa DX did not say whether he tried to get a refund from the site or whether he reported the transaction. He didn’t elaborate on the content of the DVD, either.
Grand Theft Auto 6 has not been released as of this report. Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games have not announced any early or unreleased retail copies of the game being distributed or sold ahead of its official launch. The game’s anticipated release has also drawn attention to how much the game has cost to make, according to industry analysts.
The video’s comment section quickly filled with reactions, some playful and some skeptical of Papa DX’s account. One user, Snowthai MC 99, floated an alternative theory entirely, joking “Plot twist – you are the seller,” suggesting Papa DX might have orchestrated the stunt himself rather than actually being scammed. Another commenter, Shqipet e Maqedonis, replied simply “Yeyeye” alongside a photo, prompting a laughing-emoji response.
Other viewers questioned whether the premise of the video made sense at all, debating the same disc-versus-digital confusion Take-Two’s Zelnick has since addressed publicly. Commenter Marco ros argued that GTA 6 isn’t expected to ship on a physical disc in the first place, writing “Gta6 does not even come on disc.”
That comment drew a mixed response: MRsupervk countered that a disc version does exist but “u can just not pre order it,” while Tom161 disagreed with both, arguing the game “will come as an download code” – a claim that lines up with Take-Two’s official plan, which pairs physical retail copies with a redeemable digital code rather than a disc.
The confusion carried into pre-order specifics, with commenter Nick Dimasi asking whether an Amazon order would come with a download code, and amandajane2404 flatly replying, “Yes. There is no disc.”
The back-and-forth in the comments turned out to be prescient: as Zelnick’s remarks confirm, there is no traditional disc for GTA 6 at all – physical copies will contain a download code, not physical game media – which makes the DVD Papa DX received look even more out of place next to what an actual “early copy” of the game would realistically look like.
The disc question raised by commenters is, in fact, an active topic at Take-Two itself. During the company’s first-quarter FY 2027 earnings call, CEO Strauss Zelnick addressed why GTA 6 won’t ship on a physical disc, explaining that for a major release like this, “discs don’t really make sense for the consumer” in an industry that’s already overwhelmingly digital.
Zelnick said Take-Two’s business is now “well over” 90 percent digitally distributed, and noted that since most games already require online registration to play, downloading digitally is simply more convenient for players who are connected anyway.
He also compared the shift to what’s happened in the music industry, saying physical editions “will have some form” going forward, much like vinyl has persisted in music despite the shift to streaming, even as digital becomes the default for major titles.
Zelnick did not rule out a future disc release for GTA 6 entirely. Speaking to IGN after the earnings call, he said, “I wouldn’t rule out anything at this stage of the game. What we’ve announced so far is what we’re doing at the moment, but we are always open minded.” He also said the decision wasn’t driven by fears of leaks, and that he doesn’t expect launching digitally to hurt the company’s business.
As it stands, GTA 6 is set to launch on November 19, 2026, digitally on PlayStation and Xbox storefronts, alongside a physical version that will include a download code in the box rather than a disc.
Published: Aug 12, 2026 10:45 am