Rockstar Games released its highly anticipated look at Grand Theft Auto 6, showcasing an extremely ambitious, and perhaps the most ambitious game ever released on a console.
In a recent 20-minute gameplay look, Rockstar officials told media and influencers at a behind-the-scenes event that Grand Theft Auto 6 is targeting 30FPS at launch on consoles, which hasn't been well received by some console owners or fans. Some believe the desired 60FPS mode will be restricted to the Pro versions of the consoles, such as the PlayStation 5 Pro. However, that might not be the case, as tech experts at Digital Foundry believe the PS5 Pro's extra GPU horsepower would be better spent improving image quality, ray tracing, and resolution rather than doubling the frame rate.
Popular Now: Rockstar quietly releases a 14GB, 70Mbps version of GTA 6's Extended Look that looks much better than YouTubeWhy? Well, the problem isn't with the allocation of GPU horsepower; it's the CPU. Digital Foundry says in a recent podcast episode that GTA 6 was likely designed around 30FPS because of the large amount of open-world simulation. Objects, NPCs, physics, and other systems run concurrently, all weighing on the CPU, and the PS5 Pro's CPU offers only about a 7% improvement over the base console. That 7% improvement typically translates to a 7% increase in in-game FPS, which means there simply isn't enough performance to double the framerate.
However, Digital Foundry believes the extra GPU resources should go to PSSR reconstruction, improved ray-traced lighting, and generally cleaning up the image, as some parts of the trailer show noticeable shimmering or fizzing. This is particularly prevalent on fine geometry, such as edges or foliage.
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There is also some ray-tracing noise, along with low-resolution/blurry RT reflections. The PS5 Pro's extra horsepower could address all of these issues. The question is whether Rockstar will choose image cleanup or a 40FPS mode if they can manage it on the Pro versions of current-gen consoles.
