GTA V's Ray Traced Global Illumination Might Be a Preview of GTA 6's Graphics

Finally, Digital Foundry has released their in-depth analysis of Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced on PC and it tells us a lot about what Rockstar Games have been doing behind the scenes, particularly with regards on how it reflects on the development progress of Grand Theft Auto 6.

According to the experts over at DF, the recently implemented Ray Traced Global Illumination (RTGI) in Grand Theft Auto V is actually a technology backported from the upcoming GTA 6. This assumption is based on the high level of polish and care evident in the implementation, suggesting that Rockstar Games is using GTA V as a testing ground for their next-gen graphics engine.

This wouldn't be the first time that someone noticed Rockstar using GTA V and Grand Theft Auto Online to test out certain things that would eventually be in GTA 6 as the developers have been actually spotted backporting vehicles from the upcoming game. This is a fairly smart tactic to test the waters for features when so much is riding on the upcoming sequel.

Digital Foundry reports that the RTGI technology used in the latest GTA V update is far more advanced than what's available on other recent high-profile updates to modern AAA titles like CD Projekt RED's The Witcher 3. In GTA V, ray tracing covers all light sources in the game world, creating a more immersive and realistic lighting environment. This level of detail and complexity in the lighting system is expected to carry over in GTA 6, even at launch on consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X.

However, this advanced technology comes with a significant performance cost. Digital Foundry's benchmarks using an AMD Ryzen 3600 CPU, which is roughly equivalent to those found in the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, showed performance dipping below 50 frames per second.

Rockstar could then choose to limit the FPS on consoles to 30 FPS, prioritizing visual fidelity and world detail over frame rates. This would allow the developers to push the hardware to its limits, creating a visually stunning and intricately detailed game world. Although the PlayStation 5 Pro does have more powerful hardware, it isn't a significant enough of a step-up compared to the base model to solve this issue.

If it's any consolation, Rockstar has always had this uncanny ability to squeeze every ounce of power out of console hardware. GTA 6 looks to be a continuation of this tradition, potentially sacrificing higher frame rates in favor of cutting-edge graphics, a more lively and detailed world, and an abundance of explorable interiors.

Perhaps, more importantly, the polished nature of the RTGI implementation in GTA V is a sign that development on GTA 6 is progressing well. This could mean that a delay is less and less likely, contrary to what one anonymous developer recently hinted at, and that we may actually get a new trailer sometime next month, maybe even on April 1.

With that said, the actual performance of GTA 6 on consoles later this year remains to be seen. It'll be particularly interesting to see how the game performs on the Xbox Series S and how much graphics will improve when the updated PSSR drops for the PS5 Pro next year. With over six months to go before the game is released after Borderlands 4, Rockstar still has more time to optimize the game for today's consoles, which is presumably why Rockstar India is hiring game testers for in April.

As per Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick, GTA 6 is still scheduled for Fall 2025.