DF Weekly: Is GTA 6 at 60fps really out of the question for PS5 Pro?

Speaking as a journalist, it feels a bit strange to see things you say become news, but because of the profile of Digital Foundry, it happens sometimes. So it was last week, when the big takeaway for many from our PS5 Pro specs response was that Grand Theft Auto 6 will likely be on the new machine. No Run at 60 frames per second. Of course, there are some caveats to that particular statement, and we spend some time discussing it in DF Direct Weekly #155.

The whole PS5 Pro/GTA 6 discussion started when considering the release date of the new Sony machine, which looks set to have the highest-performing hardware on the market to run Rockstar's next-generation blockbuster. Assuming the PS5 Pro will arrive later this year, this is a completely logical guess, bearing in mind that Rockstar's current release date puts the game in 2025. Rockstar may choose not to support the PS5 Pro, but the balance of probabilities suggests it will.

From there, the question arises as to what makes the upgraded console better than the standard console: what it was designed for, what specifications it has, and how the extra resources can be used in an open-world game like GTA 6. Is. And here's how we can make somewhat confident predictions, because before the PS4 Pro and Xbox One

However, before we go any further, there's one big caveat: The first Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer launched as a 30 frames per second video. All previous GTA console titles since the first 3D offering, Grand Theft Auto 3, have targeted 30fps (and often dropped lower depending on load). Red Dead Redemption titles also run at 30fps on their original host platform. However, until Rockstar says so, the possibility of a 60fps mode in GTA 6 cannot be ruled out.

• 0:00:00 introduction
• 0:00:44 News 01: Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra surprises in first trailer
• 0:18:56 News 02: AMD announces FSR 3.1
• 0:30:52 News 03: Latest PS VR2 update enables PC access
• 0:40:37 News 04: Can GTA 6 reach 60 FPS on PS5 Pro?
• 0:57:46 News 05: Secret Protocol demo shows off AI characters
• 1:10:17 News 06: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth gets new graphics options
• 1:16:05 Pro Q1: What should Microsoft and Sony do to differentiate their next-generation hardware?
• 1:36:44 Pro Question 2: Why isn't Microsoft making the most of its console's machine learning capabilities?
• 1:43:09 Pro Q3: Should Sony invest in frame generation? Does PSSR suggest a lack of confidence in AMD's advanced technology?
• 1:49:24 Pro Q4: Can backward compatibility really stop the Switch 2?

Therefore, it is logical If The new game has a 60fps mode on existing consoles, so this suggests GTA 6 will have it on PS5 Pro too – and it could deliver a more stable 60fps based on both its faster CPU and GPU. However, and this is the point we're making, if the consoles are running at 30fps, as seen in the trailer, then the chances of the game having a 60fps mode on the PS5 Pro are very slim.

Rendering dense open-world titles requires a lot of GPU power, but importantly, they also require a good amount of CPU throughput. The function of the CPU is to simulate the entire world and everything in it. The CPU runs the AI ​​for all NPCs and the animation of those characters. In-game physics are also taken care of by the CPU. Based on what we know about the console's capabilities as well as the simulations displayed in the trailer, it's hard to believe there's CPU headroom available for double the performance. Remember: The PS5 Pro's CPU clocks are only 10 percent higher than the standard model.

We're not ruling out that some base PS5 games could run at 30fps while the Pro runs at 60fps, but that would require the title in question to be limited only by the GPU, not the CPU. Game makers typically want to utilize both the CPU and GPU, and the PS4 Pro and Xbox One, but all this had to do was land you in 40fps no man's land as games faced increasingly stringent CPU limitations.

However, caveats aside, assuming that 60 frames per second is off the table, what should we expect from the PlayStation 5 Pro version of the game? It all depends on the extent to which Rockstar utilizes its features. From a CPU perspective, the extra 10 percent performance could mean that simulation-based interruptions under GTA 6's target frame-rate will be felt less acutely than they would be on the base PS5.

In our reaction video to the initial trailer, we saw strong evidence of global illumination based on ray tracing. Rockstar could take advantage of the more robust RT performance in the PS5 Pro and either increase accuracy, add additional features, or even both. With the extra GPU horsepower available, Sony has seen a basic 45 percent improvement in performance – whether that means higher rendering resolutions, a stronger lock to target frame-rate, or improvements in the quality of any graphics features Rockstar is targeting.

However, we hope the developer will target PSSR – Sony's take on machine learning based upscaling, its answer to Nvidia's excellent DLSS. This will lead to much better image quality than the software-based upscaling used on the base PlayStation 5 and can potentially even run at a lower resolution than the standard machine and still have a more detailed appearance. From there, GPU performance can be used to increase pixel quality instead of pixel amount,

With all this in mind, the conclusions are fairly straightforward: at the very least, the PS5 Pro will do what the PS4 Pro did – improve image quality through better resolution and potentially providing a lock closer to the target frame-rate. . If the game doesn't hit native 4K, the machine learning silicon should at least give a very close representation of how the full 3840×2160 resolution should render, assuming that's what Rockstar uses. And if the standard PS5 features RT support, the basic building blocks required for it (such as BVH structures to trace) can be reused for more or better RT effects.

However, assuming the game is targeting 30fps, the extra performance to run the game's simulation system at twice the speed to reach 60fps doesn't exist – which raises questions about who this machine is targeted at and what audience it is. What are the expectations? The PS5 Pro can run existing PS5 games at 60fps and make them better – and it will address one of our fundamental concerns with current-generation console games: performance modes with really questionable image quality. Frame generation techniques can also be used to render those 60fps modes well on a 120Hz display (sorry, but 30fps to 60fps is unlikely due to latency and artefacting challenges).

However, I'm not sure the PS5 Pro has the potential to discourage users who want to buy a second console instead of a more powerful PC. In a world where the Ryzen 7 5800 Get the CPU boost that Sony is unwilling or unable to provide. Ultimately, it will be up to Sony to make the case for a PS5 Pro when it wants to do so and we'll go from there.

However, going back to the original point, assuming there are no delays, the PlayStation 5 Pro will actually be the most powerful hardware to run GTA 6 on – and I expect Rockstar to make use of its capabilities. And while a PC may be more powerful, that won't help in a world where we have no idea When? Rockstar may release a PC port.