No one knows for sure if GTA 6 will hit 60FPS on PS5 Pro, but 30FPs seems more likely

Will GTA 6 run at 60FPS or 30FPS? Digital Foundry speculates that GTA 6 will hit 30FPS on both the PS5 and the PS5 Pro, but the tech experts are careful to say they aren't totally positive what Rockstar will target.

Digital Foundry has better clarified its stance on Grand Theft Auto 6's theoretical frame rates on the PS5 and the new upgraded PS5 Pro.

A recent episode of the DF Direct Weekly podcast delves into the team's thoughts and insight on GTA 6's expected performance on the base PS5 and the Pro, explaining why 30FPS seems more likely for the crime sim.

Below is a transcription of what Digital Foundry's Richard Leadbetter said about GTA 6 on PlayStation hardware:

"We were talking about the relatively meager CPU speed offered by the enhanced mode available in the new hardware. We made the statement that it's unlikely that you'll be playing GTA 6 at 60FPS on this thing. That's built on the assumption that the base PlayStation 5 won't be running at 60 frames per second either.

"It's important to make that distinction because on the off chance that there is an unlocked frame rate mode on the PlayStation 5 version of GTA 6, and it's almost at 60FPS, then obviously that extra 10% of CPU performance will help, right?

"But ultimately, we haven't seen a new GTA game for two generations now. Typically Rockstar console games of that style target 30 frames per second. They go for maximum simulation. So I think it's worth clarifying there that this is what we were meaning by that.

"If there is a 60FPS mode for the PlayStation 5 version of GTA 6, obviously there will be a Pro version that runs at 60FPS and has a more tighter lock at that frame rate.

"You are going to see different and vastly improved graphical representations on the PS5 Pro by virtue of the fact that it has a much bigger GPU and machine-based upscaling. Those are two really good things. But when your CPU is just 10% faster, you're not going to be seeing huge benefits to games that are CPU limited.

"GTA 6, assuming it's a 30FPS game like all of its predecessors in the console space, let's be fair...It's not going to have a huge amount of difference other than possibly improving stability and the frame rate target."

"So basically, to get a consistent experience, the choice is either 60 or 30. From a developer's perspective, it's a choice between 16.7 or 33.3 milliseconds of compute time per frame. You can do a hell of a lot more with 33.3--it's that simple.

"That's why I suspect we'll be seeing GTA 6 more likely targeting 30."

Digital Foundry's John Linneman circles back to Rich's original point about Rockstar's past games. He was careful to say that Digital Foundry doesn't know exactly what frame rate that GTA 6 will run at on the PS5, or the PS5 Pro.

"I think that's just their track record as well, like you said. That series is not known for pushing high frame rates until later re-releases," Linneman said. "I think that they're most interested in pushing the visual fidelity."

"But again, like you said, we don't actually know. It's entirely possible that they have a 60FPS mode in mind. We genuinely do not know."

Near the end of the discussion, Digital Foundry's Alex Battaglia reminds us that consoles come with trade offs associated with the hardware's balance of power.

"It kind of annoys me when people think that everything can be 60FPS on a fixed platform. That's not possible. You have limitations on hardware there," Battaglia said.