GTA 6 Was Never Going to Hit 60 Frames per Second on Consoles

Back when Rockstar showcased a range of GTA 6 gameplay on Netflix, one thing became evident: the game was operating at around 30 frames per second. Now that Rockstar has confirmed its target is 30fps across all consoles, including the PS5 Pro, it's evident the game likely never would have achieved a consistent 60fps on consoles.

In a recent blog post, Rockstar revealed performance details, stating that 30fps is their aim for every console, with the PS5 Pro set to receive added ray tracing and PSSR for enhanced visuals. While fans might prefer more performance-focused enhancements, such a goal might have been unattainable. The primary difference among the various console models lies in GPU strength.

The PS5 Pro, for instance, is getting ray tracing capabilities that others lack. However, the limiting factor for open-world games like GTA 6 is likely the CPU. In an interview, Rockstar North's co-studio head, Rob Nelson, mentioned they're striving to create the largest, deepest, most densely populated, and complex world ever. As the trailer shows, there are numerous individuals in every scene, each requiring CPU simulation.

The game's open-world nature demands dynamic loading of new characters as players traverse the expansive map. Given the shared unified memory pool on all current-gen consoles between CPU and GPU, this poses significant strain, especially considering the game must manage both NPC simulation and intricate weather effects alongside graphics data.

While we don't have performance metrics from Rockstar, it's plausible the game is nearing its limits across all four consoles. It's likely the game will struggle to maintain 60fps on all platforms, possibly including high-end PCs with their 8-core or less CPUs.