GTA VI PS5 Pro: PSSR and Ray Tracing Improvements

The GTA VI premiere trailer has only added to the hype around Rockstar Games' next open-world game with intricate settings, realistic weather effects, and sophisticated lighting. But it remains to be seen how the game will use PlayStation 5 Pro hardware, especially if it relies on PSSR or QSSR upscaling and ray-traced global illumination (RTGI).

The console offers more processing power, but the ultimate visual enhancements depend on how Rockstar implements it and which graphical features it chooses to showcase.

GTA VI Could Use PSSR Despite Rain Rendering Issues

One question concerns whether Rockstar might avoid PSSR or QSSR to prevent the disappearing rain issue observed in certain games. The launch trailer showed no obvious signs of QSSR, but 90 seconds of footage isn't enough to tell whether the final release will omit the technology.

The rain-rendering problem has appeared in games such as Assassin's Creed: Shadows, where rain disappeared under certain lighting conditions and interactions with particular texture details. Similar behavior was noticed to some extent in Star Wars: Galactic Racer, although the precise cause remains unconfirmed.

However, these problems do not necessarily mean Rockstar must abandon machine-learning-based upscaling. Developers can control how rain is composed or hidden to ensure weather effects are evident in varied lighting conditions. Rockstar's considerable development resources should be able to investigate and address these concerns.

Other games have had rainy environments using PSSR and had no apparent difficulties. Someone cited Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, where rain rendering problems were not very evident. So isolated graphical abnormalities should not be an inherent reason to discard the technology as a whole.

PS5 Pro Could Improve GTA VI's Ray-Traced Global Illumination

Another question is how much GTA VI's RTGI could be improved on the PS5 Pro. The base PlayStation 5 already has a fantastic lighting setup, but more processing power could improve image quality and stability.

However, increasing the number of rays traced in a scene isn't always the best remedy. One obvious shortcoming in the provided film is temporal stability, especially in fast-moving sequences. Better denoising or ray-reconstruction approaches may be more effective than simply shooting more rays.

We might still see higher-resolution RTGI and more rays on the PlayStation 5 Pro. That could leave room for improvements, depending on the computational cost of the existing implementation. A ~50 increase in ray-tracing resources might leave room for improvements.

Ultimately, the ideal approach depends on the end game's weaknesses. You simply have to take the provided film at face value. Of course, the material on hand is selective, so it's hard to say whether the illumination inconsistencies signal larger performance issues.

Higher Resolution Could Matter More Than Additional Ray Tracing

Another take is that Rockstar would probably be better off using the PS5 Pro's extra power elsewhere, on more apparent upgrades. Increasing the rendering resolution may improve overall image clarity more noticeably than scaling the current RTGI approach.

Or perhaps better ray-traced reflections could deliver quicker, more obvious results on reflective surfaces and ambient features. These adjustments may provide more visual benefit than adding more rays to global lighting, depending on the situation.

The priority should be to overcome the limitations that most directly affect the final presentation, rather than adding rendering complexity without a visible benefit.

GTA VI's Final Upscaling Implementation Remains Unconfirmed

Rockstar's plans for PSSR or QSSR remain uncertain. Much of the promotional footage focuses on the standard PlayStation 5 version, and some material predates the wider discussion surrounding QSSR. Rockstar could introduce the technology later, or simply choose not to showcase it in trailers.

With the huge marketing push Sony has behind GTA VI, it makes sense to see improved upscaling on the PlayStation 5 Pro. But the final decision will depend on what Rockstar does and the trade-offs.

We could see better resolution, better reflections, more consistent global illumination, and upscaling that actually works until the game actually releases. The final result will show how Rockstar balances graphical quality and rendering performance on both PlayStation systems.