Will GTA 6 play on my PS5 or do you need a PlayStation 5 Pro?
The biggest game in memory might demand a lot of power
The biggest game of the century so far is nearly here – GTA 6 is open to pre-order now, ahead of its release on PS5 and Xbox on 19 November. Still, you might have some questions about it, not least because every screenshot and trailer of the game released so far appears to be jaw-droppingly high-fidelity.
If you're a PS5 owner wondering about the game's compatibility, or if you don't currently own a console but plan to buy one to play what is a genuinely titanic gaming release, you're in the right place – here are some key answers about what hardware the game will run on, and how.
Will GTA 6 require a PS5 Pro?
Here's the big headline question – given how good it looks, will you need a PS5 Pro to run GTA 6? No.
Rockstar has long since confirmed that the game will release for the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles, meaning that it will be available to play on base hardware from the launch of this generation. That means that if you have a PS5 right now, you're absolutely fine to play the game when it launches.
It also means that if you don't have a console, you can choose between a PS5, PS5 Pro, Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S as to where you end up playing it. The game isn't releasing on PC at first, although that will hopefully come later, and it also hasn't been announced for the Nintendo Switch 2.
Will GTA 6 be PS5 Pro enhanced?
This is a more difficult question to answer. According to the PlayStation Store listing for GTA 6, the game will indeed be enhanced for the PS5 Pro. However, Rockstar and PlayStation have said absolutely nothing about what this actually means.
Sometimes game developers tell us before a game releases what the differences will be between playing on PS5 and PS5 Pro, whether it's higher resolutions, framerates or better ray-tracing.
In this case, we don't know anything about what'll improve; that said, we have months to go before it comes out, so there's no reason to believe that we won't get these details eventually.
Frankly, given the extra power offered by the PS5 Pro compared to every other console on the market right now, it's a given that the game will run better, but we'll have to wait for further details to know in what ways.
Will GTA 6 be better on PS5?
Here's another more contentious question. In theory, the versions of GTA 6 coming to PS5 and Xbox should be the same in terms of content, PlayStation and Rockstar have a marketing partnership pushing people towards the PS5.
A recent blog post confirms that there will be various PS5-specific enhancements, too, including using the DualSense's haptic triggers, its built-in speaker, and the console's 3D sound engine for more immersion.
In practice, none of those will be all that game-changing (and I always turn the DualSense's speakers off in-game as I hate how they sound), but these little touches do mean that the game will arguably have slightly more to offer on PS5 compared to Xbox, if you're keeping track of all the minutiae.
Where to pre-order GTA 6 on PS5
If you're a dedicated PlayStation gamer and you want a copy of GTA 6 locked in for launch day, you'll find some links above for pre-orders. It's worth knowing and reiterating that the "physical copies" being sold in stores won't actually have discs, though.
They're going to be download codes in boxes, which is a frankly grim step that nonetheless will mean that Rockstar is completely safe from pre-release leaks. The firm indications are that a disc version will follow eventually, but it's fairly rotten to know that this won't be available at launch.
