PS5 Pro & GTA 6: Why 60 FPS May Still Be Out of Reach?

If you are looking at the PS5 Pro mainly because you want Grand Theft Auto 6 to run at 60 FPS, you may want to slow down before spending the money. The idea has been circulating again that Rockstar's upcoming game could offer a 60 FPS mode on Sony’s more powerful console, but the technical side of GTA 6 makes that possibility far from certain.

The biggest issue is that GTA 6 is not simply a game where lowering the resolution or reducing visual effects automatically gives you a much higher frame rate. The world Rockstar has shown is packed with activity. You see a dense city, large crowds, and characters moving around and behaving independently.

Simulating that much independent behavior taxes the CPU, not the GPU.

CPU-bound simulation like this creates a bottleneck that's fundamentally different from GPU load — the kind you can ease by dialing down graphics settings. That's why extra graphical horsepower alone may not be enough for the PS5 Pro to hit a true 60 FPS in this game.

If the CPU is the limiting factor, lowering resolution or changing ray tracing settings will not suddenly remove that bottleneck. It will require you to remove some of the components that make the world alive, and this may include restricting the behavior of NPCs and the simulation, among other things within the game.

For you as a player, that creates a strange trade-off. A higher-frame-rate mode might technically be possible if enough compromises are made, but you would then be getting a version of GTA 6 that sacrifices some of the very features that make it impressive in the first place.

The whole point of the open-world design is the amount of detail happening around you, so reducing those systems simply to hit a frame-rate target could defeat the purpose. The current discussion comes from an insider who has again claimed that GTA 6 will support that frame rate on the PS5 Pro.

Yet Rockstar's own comments about frame rate contradict that renewed claim.

That claim has reignited the conversation, especially among players who see the more powerful console as the obvious choice for the developer’s next game. But the claim still clashes with what the developer has publicly indicated so far.

The developer has previously said that it is targeting 30 FPS across consoles. That would naturally include the PS5 Pro, and the company has not yet explained exactly what enhancements the upgraded console will receive for the game. Until those details are officially revealed, treating that frame rate as guaranteed is a big leap.

The PS5 Pro could still offer improvements without reaching that frame rate. A 40 FPS mode is one possibility, particularly if the game can maintain a higher performance target without making major sacrifices. Better ray tracing is another potential improvement. There is also a possibility of Sony’s PSSR upscaling technology being used to help the game deliver a sharper image while managing the performance demands.

Those kinds of enhancements would make more sense than expecting the PS5 Pro to magically overcome a CPU limitation. You could get a cleaner image, improved lighting, or other visual benefits while keeping the core simulation intact. That would allow the developer to preserve the scale and density of the game instead of stripping away parts of the experience just to chase a higher frame rate.

A $900 price tag makes buying now a real gamble.

This is also where the price of the PS5 Pro becomes important. The console costs $900 before taxes and additional costs. If your only reason for buying it is the hope of playing the game at that frame rate, that is a lot of money to spend on something that has not been confirmed.

You also have to consider where the PlayStation generation is heading. GTA 6 is not going to exist only on the PS5 Pro forever. A future PS6 version is expected, and the game is also expected to arrive on PC. There is even the expectation that a future-generation version associated with Project Helix will eventually be part of the picture.

That makes waiting a more reasonable option if frame rate is your top priority. Instead of putting $900 or more into a PS5 Pro now, you could keep that money and eventually put it toward a stronger gaming PC. When the game reaches PC, you would have much more control over settings and performance, provided your hardware is powerful enough.

Of course, there is a major downside: you would have to wait. If you want to experience the game on launch day, waiting for the PC version means missing that first wave of excitement. For many players, that alone could make the PS5 Pro worth considering, even if the game launches at 30 FPS. You may simply value playing it immediately more than getting the highest possible frame rate later.

Balancing that impatience against cost decides if waiting truly pays off.

Still, if you can control that fear of missing out, waiting could be the smarter financial decision. You already know that a PC version is coming eventually, and there is reason to believe the wait may not be as extreme as it was with some previous releases.

You would still need a reasonably powerful setup to run the game at that frame rate, but at least you would have a path toward achieving it without asking the console version to make major compromises. The upgraded console also does not automatically mean that the game will be a bad experience at 30 FPS.

A stable 30 FPS game can still look and feel impressive, particularly when the developers prioritize world simulation, visual quality, and consistency. The concern is specifically about whether the upgraded console can deliver a real higher-frame-rate mode without cutting into the game's core systems.

That distinction matters because people often treat frame rate as if it can be increased simply by turning down graphics. In this game's case, the CPU workload could be just as important, if not more important, than resolution and visual effects. The crowds, traffic, character behavior, and overall simulation are part of the game itself.

Those simulation systems are core features, not optional visual extras.

They are not just graphical decorations that can be switched off without consequences. So, if you are considering the upgraded console specifically for the game, the safest expectation right now is to prepare for 30 FPS rather than that frame rate. You may eventually get a 40 FPS option, improved ray tracing or PSSR support, but those remain possibilities until the developer provides more information.

There is still plenty of time for the situation to become clearer. Once the developer details its enhancements for the upgraded console, you will have a much better idea of what the upgraded console can actually do. Until then, the claim of that frame rate remains just that: a claim. For players who already own the upgraded console, there is little reason to panic.

You will likely still get some form of enhancement compared with the standard console experience. But if you are about to spend $900-plus specifically because you believe it guarantees that frame rate in the game, it makes sense to hold off. The upgraded console may deliver a stronger version of the game, but stronger does not necessarily mean that frame rate.

If the developer keeps its focus on the dense world, large number of NPCs and complex simulation that define the game, the console’s extra graphical power may be better used on image quality and visual effects. And if you ultimately decide that the frame rate is non-negotiable, waiting for the PC version and investing that money into suitable hardware could give you the experience you actually want.