There’s a technical issue with GTA 6 and it’s probably not going to be fixed for when the game launches on November 19th. We’ll be delving into this problem and why we won’t see it resolved.
Hold on, before anyone gets upset this is something fans like myself want to talk about because we care about the game. We are big fans of what Rockstar have been able to achieve. How the game performs and feels in the hand is an important part of great video games. There is just one real problem with the game from all the footage we have seen so far.
What’s The Matter?
GTA 6 has an animation/camera pacing issue. As explained by technical experts Digital Foundry, even though the game’s frame rate is a rock solid 30FPS, there is an uneven motion when the camera pans or our main characters move. It can occur in both cut scenes as well as gameplay. Once you see it you can’t unsee it.
In gameplay it’s most noticeable when you don’t pan the camera fast. An example given is during Jason’s walk into the club from the extended look. Whoever is playing was smoothly moving the thumbstick and yet the camera does not look like it is. The issue is subtle but it does give the game a sub-30 FPS look to it even though the the game is actually hitting its frame time perfectly.
This Is Not New
Now I know what some people will be thinking “the game isn’t complete yet”, “we’re only in August and the game releases in November”, “Rockstar will fix it because we can all see it”. Except this has been a problem for Rockstar’s past titles too.
GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 suffer from this issue too. Even their PC versions including the most recent “Enhanced” edition of GTA V. Higher frame rates don’t fix this either so a mythical 60FPS mode for Grand Theft Auto VI will not put an end to it. Digital Foundry speculates that given this issue plaguing past titles and now GTA VI, it is a fundamental issue with RAGE, Rockstar’s engine.
“This may stem from a fundamental timing or synchronisation mismatch between animation and frame updates and it seems unlikely to be resolved for launch given its long history in Rockstar projects.”
Digital Foundry
Why It Probably Won’t Be Fixed
This issue can be seen in trailer 1, trailer 2 and throughout the recent extended look. All three of these pieces of video were taken from across multiple years at various points in development. GTA 6 is now in its final stage of production. Yes, we are still a few months away from release but if has not been fixed in the past dozen years will it really be fixed in the next few months? Come on, let’s be a realistic now.
Rockstar no doubt know about this technical issue. They have some of the smartest people around working on this game and the engine. As we’ve seen from everything of GTA 6 so far, they are doing things that no one else are able to do on the technical side of video games. Based on this, the issue is not an easy one to solve. They are not careless.
It’s just extremely disappointing that there is this lingering problem that has spanned generations of hardware and games. With Grand Theft Auto VI marking a truly revolutionary step forward in interactive entertainment, it just feels wrong to see an issue like this from the XBOX 360/PS3 era crop up again.
It’s also worth noting that this is not something only Rockstar has suffered from. Other games on different engines have exhibited issues like this before. The difference is Rockstar has effectively an unlimited budget and as I mentioned some of the most clever people in the industry.
Again, this one problem does not take away from the the incredible artistry that has gone into creating this game. Grand Theft Auto 6 is going to be a revolutionary game even if this one RAGE quirk was not fixed.
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