I'm guessing its considerably more cost effective just printing voucher code cards than authoring entirely new BD discs. If any of these physical boxed versions come with the DLC on disc (with maybe the exception of Japan), I'll be positively shocked.
Sony are stingy motherfuckers.
This.
To be fair, being close to broke is no doubt part of the reason Sony is cheaping out on these sorts of so-called GOTY releases. It sucks hard for those of us who like the idea of having all content on one disc for our collections. And it sucks especially hard for people who are stuck with shitty internet speed (like half of the US) due to inadequate infrastructure. Having all the data on a GOTY edition used to be a great way around that problem. Nowadays, not so much.
The one silver lining (if you can call it that) is generally speaking the GOTY editions with digital DLC are sort of pointless if you already have the original physical release. So there's no need to spend money on the new version. Just wait for a steep discount on the DLC and call it good.
With that in mind, it begs the question if companies really save money with this cheap-ass approach since the GOTY editions that go this route must have lower sales than they would otherwise due to word of mouth. Outside of perfectly timed sales promos at various retailers, why would I bother buying this when I have the original? Without the DLC on disc it's far less desirable to me.
The only thing that makes sense is this trend is another method of battling "sales lost" to the secondary market. But for collectors like me, it kinda makes the re-release pointless...which takes money out of Sony's pocket since now I'll just wait it out and only pick up the DLC when it goes on deep discount for, say, 50% off or more. After hearing about this news, I decided to pick up Bloodborne for $16 new on Black Friday. They'd have made more $$$ off me by selling a GOTY edition with everything on the disc. I doubt I'm alone in this thinking.
