720p & No Ray Tracing? Digital Foundry's Grim GTA 6 Outlook for Xbox Series S

While hardly coming as a surprise, it's nice to have expert opinion help set expectations - not all consoles may deliver the same experience when Grand Theft Auto 6 comes out on May 26, 2026, much like how various platforms run the current Grand Theft Auto V at different fidelities.

Technical experts at Digital Foundry recently released their analysis of the second GTA 6 trailer, featuring much-improved graphics compared to the first GTA 6 trailer.

While they were quick to point out at how much of a graphical leap forward the game is for the industry, and how it could only get better on the PlayStation 5 Pro, they're suggesting that Xbox Series S owners might want to temper their expectations - something users of the lower-priced Microsoft machine have probably gotten used to by now.

According to Digital Foundry, GTA 6 will likely run at a significantly lower 720p resolution on the Xbox Series S compared to the expected 1440p resolution on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, and a far cry from how it might look on the PS5 Pro. This dramatic difference stems from the Series S's hardware limitations, particularly its 8GB of RAM compared to 12.5GB on PS5 and 13GB on Xbox Series X.

The graphics downgrade doesn't stop at resolution. Digital Foundry speculates that Xbox Series S players will experience noticeably decreased texture streaming quality, lower volumetric effects, reduced detail in assets, and lower resolution shadows. For a game like GTA 6, these cutbacks could substantially impact the immersion that Rockstar Games is famous for creating.

Perhaps most concerning is the expected "big time" reduction in ray tracing capabilities. The analysts suggest that Rockstar might disable ray traced reflections entirely on Xbox Series S, which could "severely alter the look of the game" since these reflections are crucial for glass and glossy surfaces throughout the Miami-inspired Vice City and Leonida.

Frame rate expectations aren't looking promising either. While some games offer 60 FPS "performance modes" on the PS5 and Xbox Series X, this is doubtful on the Xbox Series S. The 30 FPS target seems most realistic given the game's demanding graphics and vast open world, which may already push the console - which will be 6 years old by the time the game launchers - to its limits.

As next-gen games become more ambitious (and expensive), the gap between the Xbox Series S and its more powerful counterparts appears to be widening rather than narrowing through optimization. While Rockstar has done an excellent job putting other developers to shame with its mastery over the RAGE engine, getting GTA 6 to run at 1080p and maintain a stable 30 FPS on the Xbox Series S will take nothing short of a miracle.

For context, Digital Foundry predicts that even the base PS5 and Xbox Series X will target 1440p at 30 FPS without offering a performance mode. It's worth noting these predictions are based on analysis of trailer footage and hardware specifications, not direct gameplay data.

There's still over a year left for Rockstar to work its magic (and Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick did previously express his confidence in the game's performance on the Xbox Series S), but the evidence at the moment suggests that owners of the economically priced console should prepare for a visually compromised experience.

For what it's worth though, Xbox owners aren't completely left out. Grand Theft Auto V is on the Game Pass, after all. The Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X are also where fans can enjoy Grand Theft Auto 4 at its best, at least until Rockstar confirms the long-rumored remaster that's supposedly coming out later this year.