Before players dive into the world of GTA 6, the predecessor should become even better with a major update. However, this turned out to be a disaster on Steam.
What kind of update is this? We are talking about the GTA 5 Enhanced Edition, which is now available on Steam three years after its release on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. This means that PC players can now benefit from a series of visual improvements and new features.
Numerous new features, but also new problems
What does the new update include? The Enhanced Edition is supposed to improve the graphics and performance of the game – also thanks to upscaling technologies like AMD FSR and Nvidia DLSS. These had not been implemented in GTA 5 until now.
The frames per second (FPS) that can be gained through upscaling can then be invested into raytracing. This makes lighting and reflections in the game world appear more realistic. Additionally, loading times on SSDs should be shorter.
The update is available for free to all those who already own GTA 5 and replaces the legacy version of the game in the Steam shop. If you owned GTA 5 before the update, you can still install and play the legacy version, but it cannot be purchased anymore.
The free update isn’t well received by players on Steam: The Enhanced Edition struggled with technical stability issues at release. Additionally, many players have difficulties transferring their accounts to the new version.
In the meantime, Rockstar has already improved the state of the update with several patches. However, PC players still feel neglected by the developer. Currently, only 57% of around 25,500 reviews on Steam are positive.
In comparison: The legacy version of the game has over 1.8 million reviews on Steam, of which 87% are positive.
Raytracing – a must or just a FPS killer?
Is raytracing even necessary in GTA 5? This is especially being debated considering the high costs regarding frame rates, as a Reddit post with over 56,000 likes in the r/gaming subreddit shows.
In this post on Reddit, two screenshots are shown in which Franklin stands under an arch of a building – once with raytracing and once without. Since it wasn’t directly indicated which image has raytracing, many users seem to have trouble figuring this out at all.
Others simply believe that the more realistic lighting is not worth the FPS loss:
- “That results in -40% FPS plus a tip,” writes Reddit user bathedcat
- Dagfen writes in his comment, “Raytracing can look great and enhance a scene, but I think the performance drop far outweighs the benefits.”
This discussion could continue with the release of GTA 6. As a title for the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, the game will likely also make use of raytracing. However, pure PC players will first have to wait until the game is available on their platform.
Despite the mixed first impression that the GTA 5 Enhanced Edition has made, the game is currently being played by over 118,000 players (via steamdb.info; as of May 18, 2:06 PM).
Also part of the GTA 5 Enhanced Edition is, by the way, GTA+. This is a new subscription that allows you to take some gameplay shortcuts. You can find out more about this in this article: GTA 5 brings a big, free update for the PC, allowing you to finally spend more money
