Tech expert says GTA 6 likely won't run at 60fps on the PS5 Pro, even if it'll probably have "higher quality visuals"

If it follows a trend set by the previous Grand Theft Auto games, GTA 6 likely won't run at 60 frames per second even on the beefed-up PS5 Pro, one tech expert predicts, even if we can probably expect its visuals to be "higher quality."

The PS5 Pro was revealed earlier this week, and will include an upgraded GPU for up to 45% faster rendering, as well as improved ray tracing capabilities, and AI-driven upscaling to make visuals look clearer. However, even with all that, Digital Foundry's technology editor Richard Leadbetter isn't convinced that Rockstar Games' upcoming behemoth GTA 6 will see a huge boost when it comes to its frame rate. In an interview with IGN, Leadbetter gives a simple "no" when asked if he thinks the game could run at 60fps on the PS5 Pro.

"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!)," Leadbetter explains. "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."

Again though, that's not to say that it won't look good, as Leadbetter predicts: "What you will get will be higher quality visuals, but likely still running at similar frame-rates [to the base console]." On this, it's worth noting that he believes there's "good evidence" that the GTA 6 trailer that was revealed last year was running on either the Xbox Series X or PS5, which in theory means that even without the Pro model, things should hopefully look visually impressive on the existing current-gen consoles.

At the time of writing, Rockstar Games hasn't stated whether or not GTA 6 will be targeting 60fps, so we may end up being surprised. Even so, Leadbetter says "we've seen no evidence so far to suggest it is," so perhaps don't go getting your hopes up. 

Be sure to check out our comparison of the PS5 vs PS5 Pro specs to see everything that Sony's upcoming console has to offer.