Is It Worth Upgrading to PS5 Pro for GTA 6? Explained

The “Plays Best on PS5” marketing for GTA 6 makes the game almost feel like a PlayStation exclusive. Now this has fans wondering whether the base PS5 is enough or the PS5 Pro is the better choice for GTA 6. Honestly, the answer isn’t as simple as you think, with Rockstar remaining dead silent about the game’s performance. So read on to find out whether you should get the PS5 Pro solely for GTA 6.

Editor’s Note: Last updated on October 9, 2026, to include the latest details on GTA 6’s performance on PS5 Pro.

How Will GTA 6 Run on the PS5 Pro (Speculation)

Even though GTA 6 pre-orders are live and the game’s Extended Look is out, Rockstar remains tight-lipped about the game’s performance on consoles. The GTA 6 Extended Look on Netflix finally revealed the latest installment’s gameplay, and it was running at 30 FPS.

Several reports claim that GTA 6 is locked at 30 FPS at launch. However, Rockstar hasn’t yet commented on the game’s performance on PS5 and PS5 Pro. Therefore, we don’t have a concrete answer on how well the game will run on PS5 or PS5 Pro, and the debate goes on.

Nevertheless, several expert opinions, console spec sheets, and the history of Rockstar games’ console performances give us an idea of what to expect on the PS5 Pro. So, let’s go over them one by one:

PS5 Pro vs PS5 Specs

In case you didn’t know, the PS5 Pro didn’t receive any major upgrade in the CPU department. The Pro model only increases CPU frequency by 10% over the base version. On the other hand, the Pro console comes with a 67% increase in GPU compute units and a 28% boost in memory bandwidth, resulting in 45% faster game rendering than the base PS5.

Recently, the base PS5 also got AI upscaling with new QSSR technology. However, the Pro variant exclusively supports superior native upscaling tech, “PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR),” which has been a game-changer in PlayStation’s latest first-party games like Marvel’s Wolverine, Ghost of Yotei, and Saros.

On paper, the PS5 Pro sounds like the perfect upgrade. But even the powerful console isn’t expected to offer 60 FPS, at least not at GTA 6’s launch.

What Do Experts Think?

Earlier, Richard Leadbetter of Digital Foundry shared his take on GTA 6’s performance on consoles. When asked if the game could run at 60 FPS on the PS5 Pro, he stated, “The PS5 Pro uses the same CPU as the PS5, and it would be extremely challenging to hit 60 FPS if the base PS5 version is targeting 30fps. This isn’t a GPU problem; it’s a CPU problem”

Months later, the Digital Foundry team revisited the debate in a new video and predicted that GTA 6 won’t likely run at 60 FPS on the PS5 Pro. GTA 6’s massive open world, complex character and environment physics, and other aspects of the simulation force the performance to be limited to 30 FPS.

“In RPGs, dense city locations are the most likely to drop frame rates, and the GTA 6 world looks another level of magnitude more challenging than the likes of Dragon’s Dogma 2 or Baldur’s Gate 3.”

Add on the fact that you can traverse GTA 6 by ground, sea or air significantly faster than you can in either RPG, with vehicles that require their own computationally expensive physics, of the kind that normally forces console simulation games to 30fps, and 60fps feels like a bridge too far.

Recently, Tom, creator of Moore’s Law is Dead and host of the Broken Silicon 377 podcast, expressed his thoughts on GTA 6’s performance on PS5 Pro based on Sony’s conditions for the PS5 Pro enhanced tag. In line with Digital Foundry, Tom also believes the PS5 Pro’s CPU disadvantage will prevent the console from achieving 60 FPS in GTA 6, and even PSSR cannot save it.

“The CPU in the PS5 Pro is barely faster than the base console. If a game is completely CPU-bottlenecked at 30 FPS on base hardware, no amount of GPU power or PSSR is going to magically turn that into a stable 60 FPS,” Tom said.

According to him, the advantage of playing GTA 6 on a PS5 Pro isn’t the 2x frame rate (60 FPS). Instead, players will get to see crisp 4K visuals with top-tier RT reflections and global illumination:

What you’re paying for on the Pro with a game like this isn’t double the frame rate. It’s getting rid of that blurry dynamic resolution scaling and getting actual, high-quality ray-traced reflections and global illumination running cleanly at 4K.

Lastly, Tom noted that the best PS5 Pro owners can hope for is a 40 FPS mode, made possible by 120Hz monitors supporting VRR. Earlier, Digital Foundry also mentioned that players can hope for a 40 FPS mode for 120Hz display owners.

The Performance History of Rockstar’s Previous Titles

Historically, previous Rockstar titles such as RDR2, GTA 5, and GTA 4 only featured a 30 FPS mode at launch. Though players expect GTA 6 to feature two graphic modes, including a 60 FPS Performance mode, Rockstar is likely to stick to its 30 FPS plan at launch.

Therefore, it’s currently speculated that GTA 6 will likely run at either 30 or 40 FPS on the PS5 Pro, not 60 FPS, unless Rockstar completely unleashes their tech wizardry. The studio has consistently pushed the boundaries of consoles every generation.

So, we can hope Rockstar does their magic and keeps a 60 FPS performance mode ready for the GTA 6 launch. Until then, we can reasonably expect a resolution target closer to pure 4K, alongside better texture quality, ray tracing, and global illumination compared to the standard PS5.

Should You Get a PS5 Pro to Play GTA 6?

At the end of the day, it totally depends on you. GTA 6 is indeed a PS5 Pro Enhanced game and should offer even sharper resolutions and possibly more stable frame rates than the base PS5. In addition, the Pro console is also capable of handling advanced Ray Tracing for GTA 6. Therefore, everything points to the PS5 Pro being the best console for playing GTA 6.

The Ongoing PS5 Pro Shortage

Unfortunately, Sony announced a price hike for the PS5 and Pro. Following the release of GTA 6’s Extended Look, the PS5 Pro quickly sold out across all regions and is available on other marketplaces for up to $1300.

Now, there is a PS5 Pro shortage worldwide, and it could persist into 2027 due to GTA 6 demand. If you are looking for a used PS5 Pro, GTA fans are already paying absurd scalper prices for the Pro console, and now GameStop is reportedly selling used PS5 Pros for $1499.

Thus, if you can afford the Pro variant in this market condition and want to experience GTA 6 at the highest visual fidelity at launch, the PS5 Pro is your go-to option. It is the most powerful current-gen console and will definitely offer tempting upgrades for GTA 6 over the base console.

Luckily, I bought a PS5 Pro before Sony’s price hike solely to experience GTA 6 without any compromises in the visual department on day one. So, if you are someone who is obsessed with playing in the highest visual fidelity possible, like me, then getting the PS5 Pro for GTA 6 is a no-brainer.

Base PS5 is Still a Value for Money

Otherwise, if you don’t mind playing at 1080p or 2K resolutions, then you are completely fine with the base console. We don’t know whether GTA 6 will support the base PS5’s QSSR at launch. But a post-launch update is likely, and the QSSR tech will eliminate most of the shimmering problems and deliver a better output.

For many players, getting the PS5 Pro at ridiculous prices isn’t simply worth it. Moreover, one also needs a proper 4K display with 120 Hz support to get the most out of the PS5 Pro, especially if GTA 6 comes with a balanced 40 FPS mode.

Lastly, let’s hope that Rockstar Games releases an in-depth video highlighting GTA 6’s performance on PS5 and PS5 Pro soon, as we are getting close to the game’s launch. Hopefully, now you know whether you should get a PS5 or PS5 Pro to run GTA 6.

Until then, let us know in the comments whether you’ll be buying the PS5 Pro to play GTA 6.