It looks as though Grand Theft Auto 5 on PC could soon be getting a major upgrade that players have been waiting for. Back in 2022, Rockstar Games released an updated version of GTA 5 on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S that better took advantage of the hardware that each boasts. Since then, though, the PC edition of the game hasn't been improved in turn, despite ongoing requests from players. Now, if a new update to GTA 5 is any indication, it looks like this could soon be changing.

As of this past week, a huge patch for Grand Theft Auto 5 for PC went live and brought with it anti-cheat support for GTA Online. Outside of this addition, the update did essentially nothing else to the game at the current moment that players would notice. However, thanks to one notable Rockstar Games insider, it looks as though the studio is paving the one for another patch that might bring about larger changes soon enough.

According to @TezFunz2 on X, there is "a leftover metadata file" found in GTA 5 that points to Rockstar working on a "Gen9" version of the game for PC. For those unaware, Gen9 is the generation of consoles that contains the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Tez notes that this iteration of GTA 5 has been in the works since earlier in 2024 at Rockstar. Other than this, details are sparse for the time being.

So what would this update mean for Grand Theft Auto 5 on PC if it were to release? Well, based on what was seen on PS5 and Xbox, the game would be able to feature a handful of different graphical modes that aren't currently available. These modes would be able to improve the performance of fidelity of GTA 5 and would also be able to incorporate ray-tracing and additional HDR options. All of this in tandem with general improvements to lighting, draw distances, shadows, and a number of other visual components would all be likely to be found in the patch.

With Grand Theft Auto 6 on the horizon in 2025, it might seem unnecessary for Rockstar to release this update for Grand Theft Auto 5 on PC so late. That being said, the next GTA installment won't be on PC immediately, which means that those who play solely on the platform will be left playing GTA 5 for a bit longer. This Gen9 upgrade would definitely help bridge the gap to whenever GTA 6 eventually comes to PC in 2026, 2027, or beyond.

Posted: Sep 27, 2024 7:55 pm
Related Forum: PC Gaming Forum

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/gta-5-v-grand-theft-auto-5-pc-steam-upgrade/