PS5 emulator can now run the console version of GTA V at up to 60 FPS on PC, but quickly crashes as tweakers continue to optimize — PS5 emulation advancing at an astronomical pace leading up to GTA VI launch

The PS5 emulation scene is growing at a rapid pace, perhaps the most rapidly we’ve ever seen, because the PS5 version of GTA V is now at least playable at up to 60 FPS on PC for a few minutes as modders work to fine-tune their approach. The last time we checked in over a month ago, GTA V was still stuck at the initial splash screen while 2D games were running smoothly, and other 3D games were just beginning to perform. Evidently, a lot of progress has been made since then — all in an effort to potentially get GTA VI playable on PC before an official port drops.

The video above shows GTA V’s starting mission running at roughly 40 to 60 FPS, fluctuating based on how much action is going on. It’s the starting mission of the game, so the true test of the open world is still a bit far out. The game is being emulated via KytyPS5, the most prominent PS5 emulator at the moment, alongside ShadEmu. The PC running it has a Ryzen 7 9950X3D CPU and an RX 7900 XT GPU, so admittedly very high-end specs.

Unfortunately, as soon as the player gets to the shutter that opens up to police waiting outside, the game crashes. It would’ve been almost euphoric to see actual gunplay between the character you’re controlling and the NPCs shooting at you, but what we already witnessed was highly impressive, nonetheless. This is by far the biggest milestone in the PS5 emulation scene and the closest we’ve gotten to the actual goal of all this sudden development.

Case in point, a user was able to get past the starting mission and actually into the open world of GTA V. The game was running below 15 FPS, but as soon as Franklin and Lamar’s cutscene occurred, the frame rate rose to the mid-40s. The game crashed as soon as the cutscene ended, but remember that GTA V cutscenes are not pre-rendered videos but are instead rendered in real time using the game engine, so this is a very impressive feat for the KytyPS5 emulator.

GTA V is not a difficult game to run; Android flagships from the past three years can emulate it at up to 60 FPS as well these days. But getting the PS5 version of the game to even be playable on PC in such a short amount of time is a testament to the community’s dedication. It’s easy to imagine that after seeing the GTA VI gameplay reveal, the urge to play it on PC right away instead of waiting for an official release has spiked to an all-time high.

GTA V actually first booted inside KytyPS5 a week ago before getting to this point, but it’s not the only game running well right now. There are at least four other PS5 titles capable of being played at 60 FPS through emulation. The tweet above shows them all running on an RTX 5080 system with a Ryzen 7 5800X3D. We tried one game ourselves — PAC-MAN WORLD Re-PAC — and it ran shockingly well, locked at 60 FPS, even on an RX 6700 XT rig paired with a Ryzen 7 7700X processor.

On the other hand, SharpEmu is also making progress, but that team has a different approach to the same hurdle. They’re busy tackling accuracy and infrastructure setup rather than game-specific compatibility, per its GitHub repo. In other words, it means fixing low-level issues that are preventing games like Astro Bot from currently reaching the gameplay state. Astro’s Playroom has just barely reached the point where it boots.

SharpEmu is delivering a lot of achievements on the handheld side, though, with massive improvements made for the Steam Deck. The post below shows a similar level of performance for Astro’s Playroom compared to a much more powerful RX 7900 XT system with a Ryzen 9 7900X CPU. It’s still barely 1 frame per second, and the game doesn’t get past the boot screen, but the fact that it’s even possible is enough cause for celebration. Remember, this is the worst that PS5 emulation will ever be.