Ex-Rockstar dev says GTA 4 PS5 port "won't be easy"

An ex-Rockstar dev has weighed in on the long-standing debate surrounding a GTA 4 PS5 port, and his perspective sheds light on why the fan-requested remaster isn’t as straightforward as many hope. Obbe Vermeij, who was part of Rockstar Games during GTA 4’s original development, recently explained on X that while a port could happen, it wouldn’t be without challenges.

When asked about a potential GTA 4 port to current-gen consoles, Vermeij wrote:

“It won’t be easy. There will have been loads of changes in RAGE between 2008 and now. But still; the effort of porting GTA 4 would be tiny compared to building a new game.”

Obbe Vermeij

@ObbeVermeij

It won’t be easy. There will have been loads of changes in rage between 2008 and now. But still; the effort of porting gta4 would be tiny compared to building a new game.It was much harder getting the same performance out of a ps3 compared to 360. The 360 had much better tools to work with.

Read on to learn more about what the ex-Rockstar dev said about the GTA 4 PS5 port.

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Ex-Rockstar dev on why GTA 4 PS5 port is difficult

GTA 4 still (image via Rockstar Games)

The difficulty behind a GTA 4 PS5 port stems from Rockstar Games’ in-house engine, RAGE (Rockstar Advanced Game Engine), which has evolved a lot since GTA 4’s 2008 release.

Back then, RAGE was still relatively new, first seen in Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis in 2006. Over time, the engine has been upgraded and is even believed to power GTA 6.

That progress creates a problem; the version of RAGE used for GTA 4 is very different from the one Rockstar uses today. Updating an old build to run smoothly on the current tech isn’t just a matter of flipping a switch, and that’s exactly what Obbe Vermeij was hinting at for the GTA 4 PS5 port.

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Lessons from the past

Obbe Vermeij voiced that he’d love to see a GTA 4 remaster, but he also pointed to Rockstar’s troubled history with the Definitive Edition trilogy as a cautionary tale. Any new port of GTA 4 would inevitably face the weight of those comparisons, and fans will expect Rockstar to avoid repeating the mistakes of that release.

The original PS3 hardware was notoriously tough to work with, something the ex-Rockstar dev recalled clearly:

“It was much harder getting the same performance out of a PS3 compared to 360.”

According to Vermeij, the Xbox 360 had better development tools, which is why GTA 4 performed more consistently on that console.

This difference still affects players today. The Xbox 360 version of GTA 4 is backwards compatible on Xbox Series X, but it’s not perfect. One infamous example is the game’s final mission, a quicktime event that becomes much harder to clear because of the improved frame rate on modern hardware.

On the PlayStation side, there’s still no way to play GTA 4 on the PS5 at all, which leaves Sony fans completely locked out unless they dust off their old PS3.

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The bigger picture

For a game as iconic as GTA 4, it feels strange that there’s no definitive, modern way to experience it. Fans have been asking for years, and with Rockstar’s focus on GTA 6, a clean current-gen release of Niko Bellic’s story would be a welcome surprise.

However, if Obbe Vermeij’s comments highlight anything, it’s this: a GTA 4 PS5 port isn’t impossible, but it’s far from a quick job. Between the changes in RAGE, the legacy of the PS3’s hardware, and the high bar fans expect after the trilogy misstep, Rockstar would have to get everything right.

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