Will GTA 6 support 60FPS on PS5 and Xbox Series X? Many experts continue to cast doubt on this, and here’s why.

One question that keeps hanging in the air in everyone’s mind at the moment is that, will ‘Grand Theft Auto 6’ (GTA 6) have 60 frames per second (FPS) on the latest consoles?

Many analysts believe a steady 60 fps mode will likely not be a reality just yet, regardless of the other new trailers, gameplay footage or powerful hardware such as the PlayStation 5 Pro. Instead, they’re looking for Rockstar Games to focus on graphical fidelity and world simulation other than pushing up the frame rate.

The Debate Continues

News about GTA 6’s performance has grown more heated since Rockstar dropped their latest trailer for the game, which highlights an surprisingly high level of detail in the open world of the game’s proposed set piece, Leonida.

What we see clearly is the presence of densely populated areas, as well as the lighting, realistic reflections, atmospheric conditions and care for detail in the environment. These graphical enhancements have left fans in awe, but a question also has surfaced as to whether today’s consoles are capable of achieving 60 frames per second when running the game.

Many hardware analysts say that the game’s technical aspiration may make it hard to get a higher frame rate when you’re viewing high image quality.

By the standards of previous Rockstar titles, GTA 6 looks like a higher difficulty level.So far, by Rockstar game standards, GTA 6 looks like it could be harder.

Similar to most open world games, GTA 6 will have an advanced simulation system, but unlike many, it is expected that traffic, pedestrians, wildlife interactions and physics will all work seamlessly together in a staggering world.

The console CPU (Central Processor Unit) has to process every moving vehicle, NPC (non-playable character) and dynamic event. Such large-scale simulation can often be the most difficult obstacle to achieve higher frames per second.

The game also enables players to move around rapidly in vehicles, motorcycles, boats or aircraft, and the system must continually load and simulate vast chunks of the world, in real time.

Due to such challenging conditions, many experts consider keeping a 60 FPS consistently to be very difficult.

Previously, Rockstars has proven itself to have a 30 FPS target.

Rockstar has historically used visuals over fps when it comes to console games.

The previous games such as Grand Theft Auto (GTA) IV, GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2, started in 30 frames per second (FPS) on console.

GTA V also got a 60 FPS mode with newer generations of consoles years after the initial release, though that improvement did come with much more powerful setups as well.

Given Rockstar’s past development, it’s clear many people are anticipating GTA 6 to take a similar strategy: it’s “Launch it at the highest graphical fidelity possible.

Will the PS5 Pro make a difference?

Some players have now thought that, with the launch of the PlayStation 5 Pro, GTA 6 may be capable of delivering 60 FPS.

The new console will feature a more powerful graphics chip, a better ray tracing capability, and a more advanced AI upscaling technology, which offer clearer images while maintaining high frame rates.

But, according to game analysts, the PS5 Pro’s CPU upgrades are relatively underwhelming when compared to the Graphics upgrades.

Additional graphics power isn’t necessarily enough to double GTA 6’s frame rate, since its world simulation and AI, vehicle physics, and crowd behaviour are all CPU-intensive.

For this reason, the PS5 Pro could offer better image quality, better ray tracing support or higher resolutions instead of a reliable 60 fps capability.

This might be the one new feature to consider – the 40 FPS Mode.

However, rather than aiming for 60 fps, it’s possible that Rockstar will offer a 40 FPS graphics mode for televisions or monitors with 120 Hz refresh rates, according to some analysts.

40 FPS mode would allow for much smoother gameplay than 30 FPS but not as much processing power needed as 60 FPS.

The prospect has already proven to be a good balance between performance and graphical detail with several first party PlayStation titles.

This would let players with suitable screens enjoy Rockstar’s games with a smoother frame rate than bogging down their graphics to lower levels, if Rockstar decides to go this route.

Rumors Remain Unconfirmed

A few rumors have surfaced in the past few months saying that GTA 6 will feature two distinct modes: Quality Mode and Performance Mode.

But Rockstar Games hasn’t confirmed it as yet.

Observers in the industry say that a lot of retailer listings and leaked product descriptions are actually feature lists before the products are released and shouldn’t be seen as definitive.

If there’s more than one graphics mode, then they may be different versions of the same mode with varying graphics options but no 60 fps support and we have not experienced any 60 fps gaming with them.

Why CPU Performance Matters More Than Graphics

But although graphics processors get a lot of attention, so does CPU performance when it comes to open world games.

A CPU’s role is to process:

• Artificial intelligence
• Vehicle traffic
• Pedestrian behavior
• Physics calculations
• Environmental simulation
• World streaming
• Mission scripting

Doubling the frame rate up to 60 FPS quadruples the work for the processor to simulate each second.

When CPU is unable to catch up, frame rates vary, no matter how strong the graphics hardware might be.

This is why many experts believe that GTA 6’s advanced simulation systems are a much bigger challenge than the remarkable visuals.

Rockstar is yet to release official performance information.

After months of speculations, Rockstar Games has yet to announce official performance targets for GTA 6 on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5 Pro, Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S.

The company has to date mainly been busy presenting the game’s world, characters and visual presentation and not the technical details.

Any frame rate prediction is a guess, until Rockstar officially releases data about it.

Final Thoughts

There has been ongoing controversy surrounding GTA 6’s performance. Multiplayer fans would like nothing more than a perfect 60 FPS output on the current-gen of consoles but for this title, with its massive open world, complex simulation mechanics and Rockstar’s reputation for realism, such assurances are shy of being definitive.

The outlooks of a 30 FPS mode and a potentially available 40 FPS mode for players with compatible 120Hz display are, at the moment, the most probable of the two. While the PS5 Pro boasts better graphics performance, the CPU upgrade doesn’t appear to be strong enough to ensure smoother than 60 FPS gameplay in this high-intensity game.

In the end, only Rockstar Games could be able to verify the set up modes. For now, fans will have to wait to hear from any official word as anticipation for one of the most anticipated games of the decade will continue to grow.