Digital Foundry evaluated the graphics of GTA 6 on PS5 – 1440p and stable 30 FPS
Digital Foundry conducted a technical analysis of the 26-minute demonstration of Grand Theft Auto VI. Experts were impressed not only by the quality of individual effects but also by the fact that Rockstar managed to combine complex lighting, detailed characters, massive crowds NPC, and a rich open world on a standard PlayStation 5.
One of the most impressive projects of the generation
According to Digital Foundry, the main achievement of GTA 6 is not any single graphics technology. The game simultaneously demonstrates a high level of character models, materials, lighting, reflections, animations, and open-world simulation.
Experts especially highlighted the characters. Compared to games of the previous generation, hair simulation has noticeably improved. Different hair types react correctly to movement and lighting, and individual strands continue to move by inertia after the character stops.
Lucia is given as an example. Her hair realistically reacts to head and body movements not only in staged scenes but also directly during gameplay.
No less attention is paid to the characters’ skin. Highlights change depending on the position of light sources, and sweat, makeup, and other small details become visible. This looks especially impressive in the humid climate of Vice City.
Ray tracing plays a key role
GTA 6 actively utilizes ray tracing, yet Rockstar does not attempt to apply it to absolutely every element of the image.
Most shadows from the sun and local sources, according to analysis, are still created by traditional shadow maps. At the same time, the quality of the technology has significantly improved: shadow edges become softer as they move away from the object casting them.
In select close-up shots, Digital Foundry allows the use of RT shadows, but the main focus is on other ray tracing capabilities.
One of them is reflections. Characters and objects that cannot be obtained via the standard Screen Space Reflections method are displayed in reflective surfaces because they lie outside the current camera view.
Rockstar, in turn, combines different technologies. For example, some ordinary mirrors may use separate planar reflection if this method provides better quality with less load.
Lighting GTA 6 uses RTGI
Ray tracing plays an even more important role in global illumination. Digital Foundry has detected signs of active use of RTGI – ray-traced global illumination.
Light can reflect off surrounding surfaces and affect other objects. Obstacles, room geometry, and surface color are taken into account. For example, a colored object can transfer part of its hue to a nearby surface.
Such a system is especially important for GTA 6 due to the ever-changing open world. Using pre-calculated lighting in such a dynamic environment is significantly more difficult.
At the same time, the technology is not without its drawbacks. In some scenes, characteristic ray tracing noise is noticeable, and the quality of individual RT reflections degrades during camera movement.
A huge number of NPC turned out to be no less important
Digital Foundry separately highlighted the scale of the world simulation. On beaches, streets, and clubs, a large number of NPC, cars, and other objects are present simultaneously.
At the same time, Rockstar seems to be betting not only on the number of characters. NPC should receive more complex routes, reactions to events, and a certain degree of independent behavior.
The demonstration also features advanced object physics, destructible environmental elements, and a large number of interactive details.
However, it is not yet possible to fully assess the complexity of the simulation. The showcase consisted of pre-selected episodes, so testing the behavior of a massive crowd in an unpredictable situation will only be possible after the game’s release.
On a standard PS5, the game runs at 1440p
The entire 26-minute demonstration was recorded on a base PlayStation 5. According to Digital Foundry’s calculations, the internal resolution is approximately 2560 × 1440 pixels.
Experts found no signs of dynamic resolution changes in the shown scenes.
At the same time, the image is output in 4K, but relatively simple spatial upscaling is likely used. Experts found no clear signs of the use of modern temporal scaling technologies for level FSR 2 or TAAU.
As a result, the image appears soft in some areas, and flickering and jagged object edges can be noticed on fine details. Some RT reflections also have relatively low internal resolution and may become blurred during camera movement.
Digital Foundry considers image quality to be one of the areas GTA 6 where there is still room for improvement.
30 FPS with practically no voltage drop
The shown version GTA 6 runs at 30 frames per second. The frame rate remains practically stable throughout the demonstration, and specialists noticed only rare individual frame drops.
This is noticeably different from the console versions GTA IV and GTA V of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 era, where frame rates could drop significantly in heavy scenes.
Digital Foundry believes that Rockstar is intentionally using almost all available CPU and GPU resources to increase world density and graphical quality.
That is why experts consider the appearance of a 60 FPS mode on current consoles unlikely. To transition from 30 to 60 FPS, the processing time per frame must be reduced from approximately 33.3 ms to 16.7 ms, and the load increases significantly not only on the video chip but also on the processor.
There is an issue with animation smoothness
Even at a stable 30 FPS, experts noticed the familiar characteristic of the RAGE engine. Camera movement and some animations are not entirely smooth.
As a result, individual movements may be perceived as small jitters, although the actual frame rate at that moment does not drop.
This behavior has also been seen in previous Rockstar games. Digital Foundry suggests that the reason may lie in synchronizing animation updates with frame output.
On PS5 Pro GTA 6 should look better
Since the demonstration was recorded on a standard PS5, the PlayStation 5 Pro still has performance headroom to enhance the image.
Digital Foundry expects higher-quality ray tracing and better overall image quality. An additional advantage of the PS5 Pro is PSSR scaling technology.
However, experts do not claim that a more powerful console will be able to run GTA 6 at 60 FPS. The processor may be a limitation, since simulating a large number of NPC and other world elements places a significant load specifically on the CPU.
The PC version can also turn out to be very demanding.
The potential version GTA 6 for PC could offer higher resolution, improved ray tracing, increased draw distance, and modern scaling technologies like DLSS.
However, achieving stable 60 FPS may require a very powerful processor. Digital Foundry suggests that modern Ryzen processors with increased 3D V-Cache could be particularly beneficial for high frame rates.
Thus, even after the release on PC GTA, 6 may become one of the most CPU-dependent games of its time.
Grand Theft Auto VI releases on November 19, 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Rockstar has not yet announced a PC version.
