Summary
- GTA 5 got a PC graphical upgrade in 2025 with ray tracing, improving illumination.
- Ray tracing enhances lighting in the game, creating depth & realism, but some fans find it too bright.
- While some admire the new lighting, others feel it changes the original feel of GTA 5’s visual style.
A fan of GTA 5 has shared a side-by-side comparison image that demonstrates the difference between the game’s lighting with and without ray-tracing enabled. The comparison is impressive, demonstrating how ray-tracing can completely change the look of a game like Grand Theft Auto 5.
GTA 5 has been out for over 10 years, but received an update a few years ago for next-gen consoles that improved upon the game by adding ray-traced shadows and reflections. PC finally got its own GTA 5 graphical upgrade in 2025, which went a step further than the console version, adding ray-traced global illumination and ambient occlusion to the game. While some opinions on the result are mixed, it’s hard to argue that it doesn’t make a big difference.
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A Reddit user named Ivaylo_87 shared the side-by-side comparison images, showing how the light impacts the hall that GTA 5 protagonist Franklin is standing in with and without ray-tracing enabled. In the upper image, which was taken without ray-tracing, light can be seen pouring in through the archway at the end of the hall, creating a sharp and somewhat washed-out illumination of the ground directly in front of the arch. The rest of the hall is primarily left in shadow. However, with ray-tracing enabled, it changes dramatically, with the light in the archway itself appearing slightly less harsh, but the hallway looking much more illuminated. The light looks notably reddish, too, giving the whole area a sort of warm glow. The doorways and nooks look more distinct and three-dimensional, courtesy of indirect lighting.
GTA 5 Fans Have Mixed Feelings on Ray-Tracing
While numerous players have come out and said that they think the new lighting looks incredible, not everyone agrees. Some have pointed out that the ray-traced illumination makes the polygonal angles of the archway look more obvious, reducing some of its realism. Others have complained that the lighting looks too bright, and that even if it’s more realistic, they don’t care for it. Some have also pointed out that when GTA 5 was made, the lighting was intentionally set to create a particular visual look, and that ray tracing gets rid of that, possibly for the worse.
Ray-traced lighting can give a scene a whole new sense of depth and illumination, as it tasks GPUs with showing light reflecting off of surfaces and impacting the area accordingly. This can add a lot of realism and even help to make some older games look refreshed, but some gamers have grown accustomed to static lighting and how it’s used to draw attention to an area, or create a specific atmosphere. Ultimately, as games continue to utilize ray tracing, gamers may end up enjoying it more in environments that are intended to use the tech from the get-go, rather than reworking an older game and possibly losing some of its original “feel” from the new lighting.
- Released
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September 17, 2013
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Mature Humor, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
- Developer(s)
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Rockstar North
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