For months now, it’s been speculated and theorised how the PS5 Pro will really start to justify its power (and price) once GTA 6 lands next year. As the biggest game of the generation releases, people will be looking to experience it in the best possible way. It still sounds like the PS5 Pro will be the console you’ll want to make that happen, but the enhanced box may simply be stabilising what’s already there rather than pushing it to new heights.
In an interview piece between IGN and Richard Leadbetter of Digital Foundry, it’s discussed what sort of benefits GTA 6 may see on the PS5 Pro. However, when Leadbetter is asked if the new PS5 machine could realistically run the Rockstar title at 60 frames-per-second, he’s very to the point: “No. Grand Theft Auto games have always run complex simulations that push the CPU hard, which is why every GTA game has initially launched on their target platforms at 30fps (or lower!). The PS5 Pro uses the same CPU as the PS5 and it would be extremely challenging to hit 60fps if the base PS5 version is targeting 30fps. This isn’t a GPU problem, it’s a CPU problem.”
Assuming some PS5 Pro-specific improvements are in the works for GTA 6, it sounds like they’ll mostly be focused on the graphics. “What you will get will be higher quality visuals, but likely still running at similar frame rates [to the base console], Leadbetter continues. “If GTA 6 can’t sustain a locked 30fps (GTA 4 and GTA 5 couldn’t on PS3 and Xbox 360), PS5 Pro can run the CPU with a 10 per cent bump to clock speeds — so you may get more stable performance.”