Digital Foundry's frame-by-frame analysis identified pervasive ray-traced global illumination throughout GTA VI's Trailer 2 — captured on a standard PS5 at 1440p/30fps.
Rockstar's second Grand Theft Auto VI trailer, released May 6, 2025 (167+ million views), gave Digital Foundry enough material for a deep technical analysis. The conclusion: this is a graphical generational leap, powered by ray-traced global illumination running on a standard PS5 at 1440p/30fps.
Ray-traced global illumination
Digital Foundry identified pervasive ray-traced GI throughout Trailer 2 — the lighting tech responsible for realistic neon glow, accurate sunset color bounce, and natural indoor shadows. This is what makes Vice City look like a leap forward rather than a polished GTA V port.
Performance targets
Base PS5 and Xbox Series X target 1440p/30fps with RTGI. The PS5 Pro's dedicated PSSR upscaling chip is expected to push framerate to 60fps without major resolution drops — making it the definitive launch platform. PC will eventually offer the highest fidelity.
What's pushing the engine
Rockstar's RAGE engine has been overhauled for GTA 6. Beyond RTGI, the studio promises the most complex pedestrian AI in any Rockstar game, seamless indoor-outdoor transitions, and dynamic weather that fundamentally shifts NPC behavior.
