I wasn't exactly surprised when I heard that Grand Theft Auto 6 would be coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X before it ever comes to PC; Rockstar took that same approach with GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2. Even though I've had to wait for those games to come to PC, they've always been better when you have the hardware to really push these games to another level, and I didn't expect GTA 6 to be any different.

Then I watched the Extended Look on Netflix, and it looks incredible. Even from from my couch, I could tell there were some incredible ray-traced global illumination, reflection, and shadow effects, which really make the game come alive. There were even moments — like when Jason and Lucia talk to someone behind a window — where the shadows dynamically move across the stranger's face that really make the game look like a technical masterpiece.

The only problem is that it was running on a base PS5. The game looks incredible regardless, but there were certainly moments where the frame rate slowed down considerably. I had already heard word that GTA 6 will only get a 60fps mode on the PS5 Pro, and now I can definitely see why. With all those lighting effects and the high-resolution textures, Grand Theft Auto 6 is really going to make the base consoles chug.

I have a hard time believing that GTA 6 will even be able to run at a steady 60fps on even the PS5 Pro, even though I know just how talented Rockstar's engineers are at making gorgeous games run on limited hardware. What I really want to do is take away those limits with an extemely powerful graphics card.

When Red Dead Redemption 2 finally made its way to PC, it was one my go-to games to test hardware with for years. I've only just recently dropped it from my testing rotation. The reason it stuck around so long was how scalable it was. Rockstar found a way to allow people to turn the settings down to a ridiculous degree, to be able to play it on PCs that frankly had no right trying to run it. Likewise, if you did have a beefy computer, there were dozens of things you could tweak that elevated the game far beyond how it looked on the PS4 and Xbox One. That game's PC port was a huge leap over GTA 5's port, too, and I suspect that when GTA 6 makes its way to PC (maybe sometime next year?), Rockstar is going to take those learnings even further.

There are already a couple things I'd like to see from the PC version. In a couple of moments in the extended trailer, reflections were quite noisy, particularly in the bodies of cars. It just so happens that Nvidia launched a new version of ray reconstruction just this week at Gamescom that would basically solve that issue.

At least until some new version of GTA Online comes out, this would be the perfect game to use frame generation, which will help smooth out some of the more noticeable frame drops — at least visually. I know that frame generation is controversial, but this is one of those games where I really want to see just how smooth I can make it, especially because the world looks so lived-in otherwise.

I'm sure there are plenty of folks out there that really just want to get their hands on the game immediately. And while I'll probably end up playing it at least a little bit when the game launches on consoles in November, I just know that I'm going to want to wait until the game launches on PC to really dive in.

Who knows, there may even be more powerful graphics hardware available when the PC version launches that will make the game look even better than what's possible right now. I don't know what the PC version of the game is going to look like yet, of course, but I know that once it finally comes out I'm going to put it through its paces to see just how good I can get it looking — maybe even with mods.

If it looks as good on PS5 as it the Netflix Extended Look made it seem, the inevitable PC port is going to be absolutely jaw-dropping. I already wanted that PC port, but now I need it.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra

Star Citizen single-player spinoff Squadron 42 has been delayed to 2027, with developer Chris Roberts insisting it wouldn't get the attention it deserves because of Grand Theft Auto 6.

In a new blog post, Cloud Imperium Games CEO Chris Roberts announced that Squadron 42 will be launching in Q2 2027. The studio had previously announced 2026 as its release window and reaffirmed late last year that it was still targeting that. However, Roberts noted that GTA 6 is going to suck up all of the attention this fall, and as a result, it doesn't make sense to launch a new game during that time.

"At CitizenCon 2024, we announced we would ship in 2026. Our plan was to release in Q4 around IAE," said Roberts. "But much like the rest of the industry there is no way I want to launch my spiritual successor to Wing Commander, a game that has had twelve years of blood, sweat and tears invested into it (we started Squadron 42 development in 2014 as 2013 was opening studios, hiring people and getting the Hangar module out for Star Citizen) launching into the attention buzz saw of GTA 6. While GTA 6 isn’t launching on PC this November, pretty much all outlets and most content creators will be all over it, not leaving a lot of room for other coverage."

Roberts went on to note that CIG will be doing previews of Squadron 42 with content creators and early backers in October, which it will use as an opportunity to announce release plans with a concrete date to follow "shortly" afterwards. Q2 would place Squadron 42 sometime during the spring, so long as nothing changes between now and then.

Squadron 42 has been in development for over a decade now, almost as long as Star Citizen itself. The game has been delayed numerous times, but promises an ambitious story and gameplay experience. It also boasts an absurdly star-studded cast including Gary Oldman, Mark Hamill, Henry Cavill, Andy Serkis, Ben Mendelsohn, Mark Strong, and many, many others. The cast may have expanded well beyond those names over the years as well.

Roberts had also previously stated that he hopes that Squadron 42's release will be as big of an event as GTA 6, noting that it's probably the biggest-budget game behind Rockstar's open-world crime epic. Star Citizen crossed the $1 billion mark earlier this year when it comes to funding, and there aren't many other games that can rival a budget like that.

The delay announcement comes hot on the heels of a disastrous Star Citizen developer livestream that went radically off the rails. After early access players complained of bugs and issues with a new update to the game, the developers held a stream to show the "intended" version of the experience, only to be met with the same issues, if not worse. It led to passive-aggressive comments between the developers themselves and an uncomfortable tension in the air. Many have wondered if Star Citizen will ever actually properly release and that broadcast didn't help with those concerns.

Star Citzen itself remains without a release window.

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN's news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.

We just got our most detailed look at Grand Theft Auto 6, and one thing is clear: it's a love story. One with a happy ending? That remains to be seen, but the couple dynamic alone is one of the most interesting things Rockstar Games has ever done.

It’s not that the duo of Lucia and Jason demonstrate unprecedented novelty or wild technical ambition — the series already proved it could successfully handle multiple protagonists with Trevor, Michael, and Franklin — it's that Rockstar has taken on one of the trickiest relationships to convey in gaming and made it the heart of the story. Games are notoriously bad at romance; you're either hammering simp-coded dialogue options to win the affection of another party member or watching awkward cinematics that are about as sexy as an afternoon at the podiatrist. If anyone can pull it off, though, it's Rockstar.

The new trailer shows us glimpses of Lucia and Jason working together on main story missions, but I was able to see more interesting elements of their partnership during a gameplay demo at Rockstar’s studio. In this new footage, I found that their relationship is represented in many small ways and not just them having each other’s back during bombastic shootouts. You can walk around holding hands, buy your lover a sandwich, and go shopping together to add some more clothes to your wardrobe.

"You manage the relationship in the way you hopefully nurture any relationship — which is by spending time together," Rob Nelson, Head of Development and Co-Studio Head at Rockstar North, told us. "So being in the open world and exploring together or doing activities together — playing pool or mini golf or kayaking; normal slice of life things. Or, robbing stores together, robbing banks together. However players want to spend that time together, it will have a positive impact on the relationship."

I love the introduction of a true couple dynamic. From the interactions I saw, this isn't a campaign-long escort mission or one character playing sidekick to another. They have different but equally powerful skill sets — Lucia has kickboxer training, for example — and have their own routines when apart, and so they feel like two individuals rather than one protagonist that's been hacked in half and sent on its way.

But an authentic depiction of romance is just the mechanical foundation. Being a couple working together for a taste of the good life gives the story an emotional hook that the series hasn't had before. Every crime, no matter how unhinged, is a step towards a better life together, not just one on the path towards avaricious madness. Think Bonnie and Clyde or True Romance, two people striving for the same goal, and to hell with everyone else. Suddenly, no matter how minor the crime — holding up a Waffle House or smacking around some douchebag bro type on the beach to loot him for $12 — has an emotional stake, not just a chaotic one.

The small things matter too, like staying in touch, as anyone who has ignored multiple texts from a partner while on a night out will tell you. Even if you stick to playing one character as much as possible, the other will still be out there in the world.

"You can text the other character — Jason or Lucia — at any point or you can call them. It's quite cool when you text back and forth," says Nelson.

"If you want to just spend the whole day out on your own as one of the characters, that’s fine. The other one will text you: ‘Hey, I'm going to go to bed to lock up, you OK?’ All you need to do is respond, ‘I’ll see you later,’ or, ‘OK, goodnight,’ and that's good enough. If you don't bother to even respond it may impact your relationship a bit."

That said, I'm pleased that engaging with the mechanics of being a couple seems to be optional in every way that matters. Their partnership is, of course, central to the narrative and so will inevitably be a component in many of the story’s missions. But the amount of effort you put into maintaining their romance and roleplaying a couple is, according to Rockstar, entirely up to you.

"Could we bring some sort of emotional resonance to GTA for people if they wanted to engage with it?” asks Nelson. “Could we also provide mechanisms for people to just opt out of it if they're not into it? If they feel like ‘I don't want a relationship in this?’ That's what we're going to find out. It's not something that we want to foist upon players."

It’s the right call. Not only are romantic stories divisive — even just a few years ago I was venomously opposed to the genre — but even if you are a fan, finding couples and relationships that resonate with everyone? That's impossible. Seriously, check out the romance section of any bookstore; there's everything from cute and cuddly to monster sex. I'd rather have a GTA that no one felt alienated by than a system that forced players to smooch to finish the game.

Speaking of smooching, it sounds like Rockstar isn't going to get too down and dirty with the physical side of the relationship. Nelson explained that Rockstar didn't want to create a weird caricature of intimacy, a trap so many games have fallen into before.

"These characters feel very right together — they really do,” he says. “For anybody that wants to play around with the idea of role playing their relationship, it's amazing. So many people on the team have connected with the characters. But physical intimacy is a huge part of a relationship, and so it has to be done right. Like anything that we do, we have to iterate and try things and iterate on it until we figure out what feels right."

So Rockstar has written a couple that works on a bunch of levels, and all of them seem pretty positive at the outset. Personally, as a dark romance reader, I like my stories with a generous serving of toxicity and at least one Mafia love interest, but I think Rockstar has made the right call in giving Lucia and Jason a healthy, if felony-inclined, relationship. The world of Grand Theft Auto is one that has always welcomed experimentation, and I wouldn't want to see what the internet could come up with if it were allowed to go ham on these two precious angel babies.

"You will always have the benefit of working together and having each other's back — whether they're romantically close or not doesn't change that,” says Nelson. “They will still work together. It's really about what you want for them, their story, and how it plays out."

My only worry? As someone who cried over Red Dead Redemption 2's ending — a reaction to a game only Rockstar has ever been able to pull from my cold dead heart — there's so much potential for heartbreak no matter how much effort you put into the relationship. Rockstar likes you to make big choices — think of Niko Bellic's dilemma at the end of GTA 4 — and it's not always clear what the consequences will be until you're staring slack-jawed at the final cutscene. A couple might mean more emotionally engaging storytelling, but a couple also has so many ways to screw, screw up, or screw each other over that the risk of sobbing into my DualSense is high.

Grand Theft Auto 6 will be released on November 19.

Rachel Weber is the Head of Editorial Development at IGN and an elder millennial. She's been a professional nerd since 2006 when she got her start on Official PlayStation Magazine in the UK, and has since worked for GamesIndustry.Biz, Rolling Stone and GamesRadar. She loves horror, horror movies, horror games, Red Dead Redemption 2, and her Love and Deepspace boyfriends.