Rumors around Sony’s PS5 Pro and GTA 6 are both heating up, brewing a perfect storm of speculation. It looks like Sony is planning to launch PS5 Pro later this year around the holiday season, and it’s expected to pack more performance to deliver better graphics at greater resolutions.
Not only is PS5 Pro expected to offer a more polished experience for existing games like Horizon Forbidden West, but it’s also expected to be a great platform to play upcoming titles, including the next iteration in the Grand Theft Auto franchise. But should you really buy a PS5 Pro to play GTA 6? The answer to this question is a bit more complicated than you think.
You don’t have to, but you may want to buy a PS5 Pro for GTA 6
The 30 vs 60 fps debacle
Let me start by saying that GTA 6 is not going to be a PS5 Pro-exclusive game, and it’s coming to both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. So if you are wondering if you need to have a PS5 Pro to play GTA 6, then the answer is no. In fact, Rockstar Games — or even Sony — is yet to have mentioned PS5 Pro console anywhere on their official channels, and this whole discussing surrounding GTA 6 coming to PS5 Pro is just a result of a baseless speculation.
That being said, there are some strong reasons to believe that a game like GTA 6 would run better on a supposedly powerful console like the PS5 Pro, if it ever comes out. It’s indeed true that PS5 is still early in its product cycle, but I hate to say it that we already a lot of games that are still notoriously stuck at 30fps when played at 4K on the PS5. As such, there’s a good chance that a game like GTA 6 would also be capped at 30fps on the regular PS5 and the Xbox Series X|S.
While it’s not necessarily a deal-breaker to have a game run at 30fps as long as it’s smooth, but I see how that could be seen as a downgrade, and a potential reason to upgrade to something like the PS5 Pro that’ll likely enable 60fps gameplay for a better experience. However, there’s nothing set in the stone when it comes to the PS5 Pro’s specs or release date, and all we have a bunch of leaked information and speculation.
I would happily take a game that runs smoothly with stable 30fps on the board compared to a game that’s choppy and has issues maintaining a stable 60fps output.
GTA 6 will run just fine on the regular PS5
Don’t go out of your way to ditch the PS5 for a PS5 Pro
Even if Sony were to launch the PS5 Pro console later this year with upgraded internals as per the rumors, that doesn’t render the current-gen PS5 useless or irrelevant. You should still be able to run games like GTA 6 on it fairly smoothly without any issues, albeit with the performance mode at a slightly lower resolution.
Again, all this is purely speculative at this point, and there’s literally no official word from either Sony or Rockstar Games on this matter. I highly doubt Rockstar Games would risk putting its sales on the line by locking or reserving the best experience for only those who have the PS5 Pro.
The PlayStation 5 is still too early in its product cycle to be replaced by an upgraded model. In fact, many gamers are only getting a chance to buy the console now after all the chip shortages have subsided and is readily available to purchase. It’s not fair to expect everyone to simply ditch a console that’s barely a couple of years old just to play a game at higher resolution without taking a performance hit.
Wait for an official word from Rockstar Games
So long story short: No, you don’t need a PS5 Pro to play GTA 6, and it should run just fine on the regular PS5 and the Xbox Series X|S. However, there are some rumors suggesting that the PS5 Pro with its upgraded hardware will deliver a smoother gameplay experience with higher frames on the board. There is no official confirmation on neither the PS5 Pro’s arrival nor the GTA 6 running better on it compared to the regular PS5 or the Xbox Series X|S, and I highly suggest waiting for some sort of an official word from the makers of GTA 6 before ditching your console.
