Grand Theft Auto 6 will run at only 30 FPS on consoles at launch, no performance mode promised — even the souped-up PS5 Pro might not get 60 FPS support

(Image credit: Rockstar Games)

It's almost hard to believe that Grand Theft Auto VI is finally almost here after years of waiting. Even more surreal was seeing the first official gameplay reveal happen only three months before launch, which came with an inevitable update: GTA 6 will be locked to 30 FPS. YouTuber Davy Jones was invited by Rockstar North for a three-hour gameplay showcase where leadership confirmed the game does not target 60 FPS at launch.

GTA 6, o NOVO TRAILER, Extended Look Oficial - YouTube

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Head of Development at Rockstar North, Rob Nelson, played the game for 2+ hours in front of Jones, who then detailed the experience on his Flow Games podcast. He said he could see the game running at 30 FPS during the demonstration, so he inquired about performance modes. Nelson replied that the game runs at 30 FPS for now, and that he'd need to "consult the technical team" for whether we'll see 60 FPS at launch "or later."This has been the standard for Rockstar games for more than a decade at this point — release the game with a 30 FPS target in mind and update it later with a 60 FPS patch on more performant hardware. GTA V runs at 30 FPS on both the PS3 and PS4, but got updated to run at 60 FPS on the PS5. Red Dead Redemption 2 is unfortunately still stuck at 60 FPS on even current-gen consoles, however.Following that track record, we likely won't see 60 FPS support on consoles till the PS7, while PC will enjoy unlocked frame rates once its port drops down the line. Digital Foundry expounded upon the 30 FPS limitation, theorizing that the high NPC density, dynamic weather, physics simulation, and advanced traffic AI will be too much for a console's CPU to handle. The GPU is not the bottleneck, because otherwise the PS5 Pro wouldn't have an issue pushing 60 FPS.Nelson didn't confirm anything about performance modes either, which gives further credence to the PS5 Pro assumption. Rockstar also remained tight-lipped about what resolution we can expect across the different consoles; Digital Foundry says yesterday's presentation ran at upscaled 4K (from 1440p). The Xbox Series S is considerably slower than the base PS5 and Xbox Series X, while the PS5 Pro packs a lot more grunt, along with PSSR 2 for upscaling.