I know Grand Theft Auto 5 originally launched on PS3 and Xbox 360, but the thought of running it on a Nintendo Switch is terrifying. It pushed its generation to the absolute limits and still holds on to decade-old hardware, so running on a handheld that whines when you open the eShop mid-game sounds like the perfect way to turn your console into a makeshift bomb. Still, modders have succeeded.
Sure, it's choppy and runs at 20fps even with the police removed from the prologue, but it looks surprisingly decent. On the scale from Mortal Kombat 1 to The Witcher 3, it definitely falls closer to Geralt of Rivia's Outing. It's certainly a far cry from the modders' attempt two years ago, which looked significantly worse and crashed after just a few minutes.
From the main menu to the entire prologue in one month
This effort is led by Mosjo, who has been documenting their progress on X since June 27, when they posted a picture of the main menu: “soon (I hope).” They provided an update the same day, stating that “rendering is still quite broken and the game crashes before actual gameplay.” Then, earlier this month, they showed off an incredibly worn look at the prologue, with completely broken graphics and lighting blocking half the screen.
Just a week later, they had already ironed out the kinks and showed off the GTA 5 game on Switch with the visuals and lighting mostly working as intended, a promising sign for the project. But the bombshell came last night when they confirmed that the game could now go beyond the prologue, a major milestone in making the game playable on the handheld. And no, the footage shown wasn't filmed on an emulator, but a modded Switch OLED.
The goal right now is to get GTA 5 running at 720p, 30fps on mostly high settings “except for textures.” The most relevant issue is the CPU limitations of the Switch, not so much the GPU, which means “the graphics can only get better.” As for file size, Mosjo predicts the full game will clock in at around 70GB, but that depends on whether they're “stupid enough to want to get GTA Online running as well.”
Of course, it all depends on Rockstar playing nice and letting the project continue – which, as we've seen before, is a bit of a pipe dream. Especially when they go viral, as this project has done within the community. But for now, it's a fascinating experiment in what the Switch is capable of, and it just goes to show that GTA 5 on Switch 2 isn't that far-fetched of an idea.
- Released
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September 17, 2013
- ESRB
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M for Adults 17+ due to blood and gore, intense violence, mature humor, nudity, strong language, strong sexual content, use of drugs and alcohol
- Developer
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Rockstar North
