Grand Theft Auto 5 and Grand Theft Auto Online are both coming to new-gen systems on March 15 and today Rockstar Games has detailed a list of enhancements coming to its long-running blockbuster when it arrives on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
In a new blog, Rockstar revealed that all the expected next-gen enhancements will come to GTA 5 and GTA Online, plus more. Both GTA 5 and GTA Online can be pre-purchased and pre-loaded on new-gen consoles from March 8. Physical releases wll follow in April.
Starting with GTA 5, here’s a rundown of new features.
New GTA 5 Features
Grand Theft Auto 5 will support three new graphics settings for players who want specific things from their games. Fidelity Mode will run at the highest visual settings, native 4K with Ray Tracing at 30 FPS, for both PS5 and Xbox Series X. Xbox Series S will support upscaled 4K resolution.
Performance Mode will target 60 FPS at upscaled 4K resolution for PS5 and Series X and 1080p on the Series S.
Finally, Performance RT is a hybrid of Fidelity and Performance mode which will run GTA 5 at upscaled 4K with Ray Tracing and target 60 FPS. This mode is only available on PS5 and Xbox Series X.
GTA 5 will also take advantage of the DualSense controller on the PS5 with haptics and other Adaptive Triggers feedback and will include Tempest 3D audio for PS5 and Spatial Sound on Xbox Series X/S. Both console versions will take advantage of SSDs for faster loading times.
Rockstar promises "high-end PC visuals" on console, including "increased population and traffic variety, increased vegetation density, improved lighting quality across shadows, water reflections, and other elements. Plus improved anti-aliasing, motion-blur, highly detailed new explosions, fire, and much more."
New GTA Online Features
For Grand Theft Auto Online, the live game will include over eight years’ worth of gameplay updates and content as well as new vehicles and the added Hao’s Special Works to the Los Santos Car Meet.
Hao’s Special Works includes vehicle upgrades, a new class of Races for modded vehicles, and a weekly rotation of Hao’s Special Works Time Trials and Premium Test Ride.
The new-gen versions of GTA Online will also receive quality of life improvements, including a new intro and tutorial, and a more useful main menu that lets you jump directly into activities.
GTA Online will also be available as a standalone title for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, and can even be downloaded and kept for free for PS5 players during the first three months of release. Rockstar still hasn't announced a price for the standalone GTA Online, however.
For new players who are finally diving into GTA Online, Rockstar is introducing a Career Builder which will onboard new players with a free GTA$4,000,000 bonus for players to purchase Properties, Vehicles, and Weapons.
Transfer Your Existing Character
If you’re a longtime GTA Online player, Rockstar announced that PS4 and Xbox One players can transfer both their GTA 5 Story Mode progress and GTA Online characters to new-gen systems and even across console platforms, meaning PlayStation players can transfer to Xbox and vice versa.
This is a one-time migration, but it includes any characters, GTA$, Progression, Stats, Vehicles, Properties, Weapons, Clothing, and Player-Create Jobs. The transfer will be done through the Rockstar Games Social Club account.
You start a story mode transfer from today by going to the Game tab in the GTA 5 pause menu and hitting Upload Save Game. Saves will be downloadable for 90 days after upload. GTA Online account migration will only be available from March 15.
Grand Theft Auto 5 and GTA Online are both immensely popular while also being nearly 10 years old. And while Rockstar confirmed it is working on the new Grand Theft Auto 6, until then Los Santos will still be open for business.
Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.