Rockstar Confirms GTA 6 Runs at 30fps on Every Console, PS5 Pro Included. So Much for 120Hz

It’s official: Grand Theft Auto VI targets 30 frames per second on every console it launches on, and that includes the PS5 Pro. Rockstar confirmed it in the same Newswire post that opened preloads on 10 November.

That pretty much kills the hopes built on last week’s datamining, including the PS5 Pro 120Hz talk we covered when the preload went live here first. The Pro gets prettier, not faster.

What Rockstar actually said

Rockstar says GTA 6 was built “from the ground up” for current consoles, “targeting 30 frames per second while pushing both platforms to their absolute limits”. The reason it gives is keeping the density and visual fidelity of Leonida’s environments and crowds.

• The frame rate: A 30fps target on PS5, PS5 Pro and Xbox Series X|S. The post doesn’t mention a performance mode at all.
• PS5 Pro: Improved clarity through PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) upscaling, plus ray-traced shadows that Rockstar says are only on the Pro.
• Every PS5: DualSense haptics across the whole game (adjustable in the accessibility settings), Tempest 3D Audio and improved load times. Rockstar’s line is that it plays “best on PlayStation 5 consoles”.
• Xbox: Rockstar didn’t break down Xbox performance, according to Game Informer. It talked up Xbox Cloud Gaming instead, which runs on Series X|S and Xbox One using Series S graphics settings.
• Remote Play: Fully supported on both PlayStation and Xbox.

So what does the PS5 Pro actually buy you?

A sharper image and nicer shadows, at the same frame rate as a base PS5. That’s it, going by everything Rockstar and PlayStation have said so far.

Note the word “targeting”. It’s a target, not a promise of a locked 30, so expect the odd dip when Vice City gets busy. Whether it holds up is something we’ll only know once the game is out.

When you can play it in NZ and Australia

• Launch: Thursday 19 November, unlocking at 12am NZDT. According to the PlayStation Blog, it’s a rolling midnight launch that starts in New Zealand and moves around the globe as each country hits midnight.
• Preload: Open now on PlayStation Store and Xbox for digital pre-orders, and the download is up to 212GB.
• The hype: PlayStation says GTA 6 is now the most pre-ordered game in PlayStation Store history.
• PC: Still no release date. The Newswire post only covers consoles.

Our full breakdown of GTA 6 launch times has the details, and Take-Two’s “extraordinary” pre-order brag covers the money side.

Our take

Thirty frames in a world this dense isn’t a scandal. Red Dead Redemption 2 ran at 30 on consoles and people still hold it up as one of the best-looking games ever made.

The PS5 Pro is where it stings. If you forked out for a Pro thinking GTA 6 would be the game that justified it, you’re getting crisper shadows, not smoother car chases, and that’s a bloody expensive way to buy shadows.

PC players, enjoy feeling smug for a week. You’ll get your 60fps eventually, whenever Rockstar decides you’ve suffered long enough.

Is 30fps a dealbreaker or a non-issue? Come argue about it in the GetRekt Discord. Everything else lives on our GTA 6 page.

Sources

• Rockstar Games Newswire: Pre-load Grand Theft Auto VI now
• PlayStation Blog: Pre-load Grand Theft Auto VI on PS5 starting today
• Gematsu: Grand Theft Auto VI pre-load now available, PS5 Pro support confirmed
• Game Informer: Grand Theft Auto VI will run at 30 FPS on all consoles
• GGRecon: GTA 6 targets 30fps on consoles, PS5 Pro gets extra shadows
• PlayStation (YouTube): Grand Theft Auto VI – Features Trailer
• Rockstar Games (YouTube): Grand Theft Auto VI: Pre-Load Now