Rockstar Games has yet again set the internet ablaze with the rollercoaster ride of placement of a claim that GTA 6 has achieved photorealism. But is it really the break that some want us to consider it? Well, the fight lingers on, with a 50-50 mesh in the gaming world. Half view this as the next big leap in the evolution of gaming visuals, and the other half see it as greatly hyped-up stylized realism.
The tweet showed some footage that could have been in-game; super beautiful it was. Stunningly beautiful. But photorealism? This is when the messy begins. One of the users, Shade, had a sharp observation that Rockstar was going more for a “gamey art style” than an accurate photorealism, and honestly, that’s really not bad. They’ve always had this ability to imbue their games with an aura of timelessness, which seems to carry on here with GTA 6.
Another said the shots with Jason and Brian in the car are insane to watch, while others are screaming ‘video game’ the whole way. And, they’re right. Side by side, they are distinguishable from the real, just so well-made.
Now, let’s talk about those who were actually fooled. Nova_Gaming2024 said that before GTA 6 was revealed, my mates and I considered some of the footage actually to be real life. Insane, right? If that ain’t evidence of how far graphics have come, then what is? Still, it’s straight-up “cope for engagement,” says Rollex, pointing out that Rockstar does not even do photogrammetry (for hyper-realistic textures) as much as studios like KojiPro (the guys behind Death Stranding).
On the matter of the argument regarding consoles versus PCs. Customds wondered aloud how the heck this one is gonna run on current-gen consoles without melting them, with crowd density alone sounding like CPU hell.
Those are just some of the opinions coming into play from various contradictory spectrums!
Beats1027 entered the scene and reminded the crowd that Rockstar are “masters at optimization,” with no small amount of engineering help from Sony on the PS5 version. So just maybe it will actually hold up.
Would you really rather have this debate about whether GTA 6 was or was not truly photorealistic? It means nothing compared to the fact that it kicks down barriers and starts conversations, and it’s making every other open-world game look old by comparison. Rockstar has always been a bar setter, and GTA 6 is yet again one.
So yeah, photorealistic? Probably not completely. But is it one of the best-looking games we have ever seen? Absolutely. So that hype for 2025 is real. If only we could fast-forward time…
