Photo: Rockstar Games
The Christmas craze is slowly but surely starting to rear its ugly head as the Halloween fever dies down in Grand Theft Auto Online. But what's even more exciting is that Rockstar Games has some considerable plans for their online moneymaker, especially regarding the PC version. It's finally getting the much-deserved and long-awaited visual upgrades from current-gen consoles like PS5 and Xbox Series X.
Ever since Rockstar Games re-re-re-re-released GTA V on new-gen consoles with notable visual improvements, the PC version has been left for modders to tinker with. However, 2025 will bring those sweet console features to the old mouse and keyboard platform.
The improved texture quality is the first step in making it look nice and shiny, like on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Even more exciting are the ray tracing features, like shadows and reflections. This will especially look great on vehicles with metallic paint and tinted windows.
It should also have faster loading times, a higher population and traffic density, increased vegetation, better anti-aliasing, motion blur, particle effects from blowing things up, and other similar important features.
GTA V's graphics have been updated more times than one can count since its original September 2013 release. The game still looks great for an 11-year-old title, but it obviously falls short of the graphical masterpiece that is Red Dead Redemption II.
You can only bring so many visual improvements to decade-old graphics without remaking the entire title in an upgraded or even different game engine. Theoretically, this should be the last time Rockstar messes with V's aesthetics because GTA VI is slated for fall 2025.
These aren't the only features brought over from the console version. Presumably, GTA+, Hao's Special Works Auto Shop, various cars, and other stuff like this will also make the jump.
You'd think when Rockstar Games releases or rereleases any game, there would be swarms of people with their wallets ready, franticly running to buy it, like in a World War Z scene. As it turns out, this isn't the case for Red Dead Redemption and Undead Nightmare, which recently launched on PC for the first time in history.
The Steam charts show it had a peak concurrent player count of only 8,697, with just 6,651 playing in the last 24 hours. Red Dead Redemption II, which is actually a prequel to RDR 1, performs much better, almost five years after its initial December 2019 release date.
It peaked 12 months ago with 77,655 players, but more importantly, 41,000 people played it in the past 24 hours. The difference is astounding when you compare the two, which could make Rockstar Games think twice before rereleasing an old title without putting some effort into updating the graphics.
It goes without saying that Red Dead Redemption II has online play, making it difficult to calculate whether players are logging in for the single-player experience or the multiplayer component. But the difference is still staggering.
Hopefully, if they plan a Grand Theft Auto IV relaunch, they will learn from this experience and upgrade the visuals, making it feel more modern. Better lighting and ray tracing could do the trick and hit the sweet spot. However, the devs shouldn't mess around with the overall aesthetic. The predominantly brown color palette is what makes it special.
Meanwhile, GTA VI's first trailer, which premiered on December 5, 2023, recently reached 216,960,294 views on YouTube. Fans are waiting for a second trailer in 2024, but whether it hits in November or December remains to be seen.
The improved texture quality is the first step in making it look nice and shiny, like on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Even more exciting are the ray tracing features, like shadows and reflections. This will especially look great on vehicles with metallic paint and tinted windows.
It should also have faster loading times, a higher population and traffic density, increased vegetation, better anti-aliasing, motion blur, particle effects from blowing things up, and other similar important features.
GTA V's graphics have been updated more times than one can count since its original September 2013 release. The game still looks great for an 11-year-old title, but it obviously falls short of the graphical masterpiece that is Red Dead Redemption II.
You can only bring so many visual improvements to decade-old graphics without remaking the entire title in an upgraded or even different game engine. Theoretically, this should be the last time Rockstar messes with V's aesthetics because GTA VI is slated for fall 2025.
These aren't the only features brought over from the console version. Presumably, GTA+, Hao's Special Works Auto Shop, various cars, and other stuff like this will also make the jump.
You'd think when Rockstar Games releases or rereleases any game, there would be swarms of people with their wallets ready, franticly running to buy it, like in a World War Z scene. As it turns out, this isn't the case for Red Dead Redemption and Undead Nightmare, which recently launched on PC for the first time in history.
The Steam charts show it had a peak concurrent player count of only 8,697, with just 6,651 playing in the last 24 hours. Red Dead Redemption II, which is actually a prequel to RDR 1, performs much better, almost five years after its initial December 2019 release date.
It peaked 12 months ago with 77,655 players, but more importantly, 41,000 people played it in the past 24 hours. The difference is astounding when you compare the two, which could make Rockstar Games think twice before rereleasing an old title without putting some effort into updating the graphics.
It goes without saying that Red Dead Redemption II has online play, making it difficult to calculate whether players are logging in for the single-player experience or the multiplayer component. But the difference is still staggering.
Hopefully, if they plan a Grand Theft Auto IV relaunch, they will learn from this experience and upgrade the visuals, making it feel more modern. Better lighting and ray tracing could do the trick and hit the sweet spot. However, the devs shouldn't mess around with the overall aesthetic. The predominantly brown color palette is what makes it special.
Meanwhile, GTA VI's first trailer, which premiered on December 5, 2023, recently reached 216,960,294 views on YouTube. Fans are waiting for a second trailer in 2024, but whether it hits in November or December remains to be seen.
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