After more than ten years of waiting, Rockstar finally gave fans a real glimpse at GTA 6 with its second trailer—and what we saw was nothing short of groundbreaking.
The trailer teases a game that raises the bar for open-world games. Among all the hype, the one issue that keeps getting brought up is frame rate. Much of the conversation has been focused on the possibility of GTA 6 running at 30 frames per second on consoles.
While some fans are calling it a step back in 2025 and a deal breaker, it honestly doesn't even make my list of concerns. I see it as the cost of ambition. As reported by Digital Foundry, a trusted technical analysis outlet, the trailer was rendered at 30 FPS and upscaled to 4K with a heavy cinematic flair.
The footage highlighted advanced features like ray-traced lighting, detailed environments, and smooth animations, all with impressive polish. But this degree of fidelity comes with a performance price. Based on their evaluation, Rockstar might have decided to cap the game at 30 FPS on consoles to maintain its visual quality.
As of now, there's no sign of a performance mode or a 60 FPS option available at launch. It's also important to note that it's not confirmed yet. Rockstar has remained quiet about exact specs, but based on their history and what we've seen so far, many believe 30 FPS is the safe bet, at least for base PS5 and Xbox Series X.
Developers and insiders are even pointing to the current console CPUs as the potential bottleneck. The world’s large scale, with dynamic traffic, crowds, weather, and reflective lighting, leaves limited room to push for higher frame rates without cutting corners.
Unsurprisingly, opinions are divided. Some players feel that in 2025, a game of this caliber should offer a 60 FPS mode, especially when many other AAA titles are already doing it. But I'd prefer a stable, visually impressive 30 FPS to a choppy or downgraded 60 FPS.
Historically, Rockstar has made similar trade-offs before. Red Dead Redemption 2 and the original GTA 5 were both capped at 30 FPS on consoles until newer hardware made higher frame rates feasible. A PS5 Pro might target a 40 FPS or dynamic performance mode.
Still, CPU limitations will likely prevent a true 60 FPS experience unless population density, ray tracing, or texture quality are drastically reduced. While some expect the PC version to offer the freedom to improve frame rates, it's not launching alongside the console version, and Rockstar has a history of slow PC ports.
GTA 6 is Shaping up to be a generational title that Rockstar wants to last for years, possibly another decade like GTA 5. It pushes the boundaries of console hardware with its impressive visuals and design. So if the cost of that vision is a 30 FPS cap (at least for now), then so be it.
Rockstar has earned the benefit of the doubt, especially after taking this long to make sure the game lives up to its name. What matters most to me is whether the game delivers the immersive stories, moments, and worldbuilding the franchise is known for, not how many frames per second it runs at.