Witcher 4’s 60fps tech demo sparks hope for GTA 6 performance on PS5 | Esports News
A recent tech demo for The Witcher 4 has gotten people excited, especially fans who are waiting for Grand Theft Auto 6. Presented at the State of Unreal 2025 event, the demo showed The Witcher 4 playing at 60fps with ray tracing on a default PlayStation 5. This achievement has raised the question of whether other demanding games such as GTA 6 would be capable of such performance on next-gen consoles.
Witcher 4’s tech demo sparks GTA 6 frame rate expectations
The Witcher 4 demo, developed with Unreal Engine 5.6, showcased hero Ciri traversing verdant woods and chock-full medieval towns, all of which were rendered in breathtaking detail at 60fps with ray tracing enabled. The announcement came at Epic Games’ State of Unreal 2025 presentation and immediately rang in optimism throughout the gaming world. Many believed that this kind of optimization would be applied to other giant open-world titles, particularly Rockstar’s GTA 6, which is infamous for pushing technical limits.But CD Projekt Red explained that the demo was a technical demonstration rather than representative final gameplay. Nevertheless, its silky-smooth performance on base PS5 hardware hints that next-gen games can do more than thought before, based on engine efficiency and hardware use.
Why GTA 6 might not do the same, at least yet
Even with the optimism, experts caution that GTA 6 cannot be expected to ship with a 60fps mode on PS5. The engine of the game is built around Ray Traced Global Illumination (RTGI), which is deeply integrated and not scalable. This renders it difficult to offer a performance mode without significantly sacrificing the game’s visuals. Even the PS5 Pro will struggle to maintain 60fps from CPU restrictions and the simulation-intensive nature of GTA 6.Additionally, Rockstar’s official trailers have been capped at 30fps, furthering expectations of a 30fps launch. Developer recorded clips at higher frame rates are not representative of real-time console gaming.While The Witcher 4 tech demo shows that 60fps open-world experiences are possible on PS5, GTA 6 may not be able to replicate that performance at launch. Until Rockstar confirms otherwise, players should manage expectations and be prepared for a 30fps experience, at least in the early stages.Also Read: PlayStation Plus celebrates ‘Days of Play’ with GTA III remastered release
