Sony and Rockstar Games claim that Grand Theft Auto 6 “runs at its best on PS5,” drawing attention to several standout aspects of the PlayStation 5 system that the title will take advantage of—features Xbox Series X users won’t have access to.
A PlayStation blog entry co-written with Rockstar and marketing leader Mary Yee points out that GTA 6 will make use of the DualSense controller’s built-in speaker, haptic feedback (a more refined form of vibration), and adaptive triggers that adjust resistance depending on what’s happening in the game. On top of that, GTA 6 will utilize the PS5’s Tempest 3D audio technology and tap into the console’s ultra-fast SSD to deliver “almost instantaneous” load times.
While this may sound like marketing language you’ve heard repeatedly since the PS5 first launched more than five years ago, that’s largely intentional. Sony and Rockstar have a promotional partnership for GTA 6, and Sony is hoping the game’s release will finally motivate players who are still on the PlayStation 4 — where you can keep playing Grand Theft Auto Online and Grand Theft Auto 5, plus Fortnite and Minecraft — to upgrade. The more clearly Sony can separate the value of PS5 from Xbox Series X during this push, the better it will be for Sony.
“For anyone new and looking to jump in, this is a great chance to see why PS5 is seen as the leading gaming platform,” Yee said in the post. “You can pick up a PS5 or PS5 Pro at direct.playstation.com (where available) and through local retailers.”
That said, the blog post doesn’t mention PS5 Pro or any improvements the stronger hardware could bring to GTA 6. That feels a bit out of step, especially because GTA 6 could be a perfect way to push PS4 players toward PS5—while also giving PS5 owners a reason to move up to PS5 Pro. Complicating matters, there’s no Pro-style counterpart on Xbox, which will likely provide the highest-quality GTA 6 experience currently available, at least until a PC release arrives.
The PlayStation Store listing for GTA 6, however, does state that it will be “PS5 Pro Enhanced,” indicating the game will receive an official update to unlock the Pro’s performance features. Still, the specific nature of those upgrades—whether they translate into a higher frame rate, improved resolution, or both—remains unclear.
Sony seems to have missed an opportunity to highlight PS5 Pro in this situation. One possibility is that the company wants to keep its “please upgrade to PS5” message from being crowded by promoting a $900 premium console. Another explanation could be that Rockstar is still working to fine-tune the game across all platforms and hasn’t finalized its performance targets.
With no PC version on the horizon, and Xbox continuing to trail in console sales this generation, Sony is effectively treating GTA 6 like it’s a PS5-only release. We got our first hint of that today. Whether this approach will also expand into boosting the visibility of PS5 Pro is still anyone’s guess.
Rockstar has announced a slew of GTA 6 updates — here’s everything we discovered
Still awaiting a new trailer, though