GTA 6 may struggle to hit 60 FPS, even on the PS5 Pro

Pre-orders for GTA 6 went live around a week ago, with Rockstar Games confirming that the game plays "best on the PS5." The company has also shared several details about the PS5 and PS5 Pro versions, but they have failed to mention anything about performance. However, while Rockstar has yet to confirm the frame rate, a recent analysis from Digital Foundry suggests that players expecting a 60 FPS mode may want to lower their expectations.

GTA 6 unlikely to hit 60 FPS on the PS5 and PS5 Pro

Last month, a leak claimed that GTA 6 would include both Quality and Performance modes, with the Performance mode targeting 60 FPS by reducing visual quality. However, Digital Foundry believes this is unlikely based on everything that has been shown so far through trailers, screenshots, and more. Many modern games include multiple graphics modes, but that doesn't necessarily mean one of them targets 60 FPS. Instead, GTA 6 could offer different visual presets while still running at 30 FPS, or possibly include a 40 FPS mode.

According to the outlet, the biggest challenge isn't graphics, it's the game's CPU demands. GTA 6 features an incredibly detailed open world packed with NPCs, traffic, physics, and environmental simulation. All of these systems require significant processing power, and they become even more demanding in a game where players can travel across the map at high speeds by car, boat, or aircraft.

Digital Foundry compared GTA 6 to recent games with heavy simulation, such as Dragon's Dogma 2 and Baldur's Gate 3, where busy areas already put a heavy load on modern hardware. GTA 6 appears to be operating on an even larger scale, making a stable 60 FPS much harder to achieve.

For reference, GTA 4, GTA 5, and Red Dead Redemption 2 all launched on consoles with a 30 FPS target. Although GTA 5 later received a 60 FPS update on newer hardware, Rockstar has traditionally prioritized better visuals and world detail over higher frame rates when launching new games.

The PS5 Pro may seem like the ideal candidate for a higher frame rate, but the report says its improvements are mostly on the graphics side. While the console offers a more powerful GPU, improved ray tracing performance, and support for PSSR upscaling, its CPU is only slightly faster than the standard PS5. Since GTA 6 is expected to be heavily CPU-limited, those GPU improvements alone may not be enough to push the game to 60 FPS. Instead, a 40 FPS mode is more realistic on the PS5 Pro.