Is GTA 6 Coming to Nintendo Switch 2? Everything You Need to Know

The gaming world is abuzz with excitement for 2025 as two titans prepare to launch: Grand Theft Auto 6 and the rumored Nintendo Switch 2. Rockstar Games’ next game in the Grand Theft Auto franchise has been brewing for years, and people have already dubbed it one of the most hyped games of the decade.

Meanwhile, Nintendo's updated console is asserting it will offer better specs with broader third-party support than it has seen before. And of course, this leads to the lingering question: Is it possible that GTA 6 launches on the Switch 2? Let’s unpack what we know so far and how likely this is to happen.

Nintendo Switch 2 – What We Know So Far

Nintendo unveiled the Switch 2 in early 2025, and it is already getting attention. Unlike the original Switch, which favored portability over power, the Switch 2 is positioned to compete more closely with mainstream consoles. It features a customized NVIDIA chip, DLSS upscaling, and delivers 4K output while docked. The handheld screen has 1080p resolution, and its RAM now stands at 8GB—significantly more than the current Switch.

Third-party support also looks promising, with over 80 major titles in development, including visually impressive games such as Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition and Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition. Overall, it seems that Nintendo is trying to shed its “for kids” image and attract a more “core” gamer audience. The tech improvements and interest from developers will likely allow the Switch 2 games to be more than just titles for casual consoles—and that opens the door, even if just a little, for “heavyweight” titles like GTA 6.

GTA 6 Overview – What Makes It a Technical Powerhouse

With GTA 6, Rockstar Games has fully moved away from the previous notion of "generation" and is looking for nothing less than a generational leap. The trailer released in December 2022 displayed an astonishing world with bustling streets, fantastic volumetric lighting, advanced reflections, and a densely populated feeling overall.

The predecessor to this game, the PS4, is obsolete, and it appears to be built just for the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, with expansive maps sporting complex character animations and AI. Developers have already referred to GTA 6 as a "technical milestone," and that isn't hard to understand. Each entry prior to this one was released for multiple generations of consoles. The PS4 and Xbox One have been eliminated entirely, which means they were built from the ground up with the horsepower of a next-gen console in mind.

According to Digital Foundry's Richard Leadbetter, this title uses next-gen features like ray tracing and advanced crowd simulation that require a good amount of power to function. Any title that pushes the limits of what modern hardware can do lifts that game from just a sandbox experience to something unique. It will likely also be one of the most demanding games in the works as well.

Can Nintendo Switch 2 Handle GTA 6?

This is where it becomes complicated. Although there are improvements with the Switch 2, the console is in a different tier compared to the biggest consoles of the current generation, like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Reported in hardware power comparisons, the Switch 2 has been placed at a power level equal to a PlayStation 4 Pro. While that is a significant step up from the original Switch, running and playing GTA 6 natively and at a decent frame rate is likely out of reach for the Switch 2.

Take-Two's Cyberpunk 2077 can only reach 40 FPS on Switch 2 with the console docked, and in order to obtain that frame rate without any detriment to gameplay, sacrifices had been made—smaller crowds, lower quality textures, and limited draw distance. An alternative? Cloud streaming. Though Nintendo has attempted cloud versions of games, it may provide a way to create a playable version of GTA 6 on the Switch 2 without having to suffer significant downgrades.

With that said, cloud gaming has its own set of issues—latency, internet specifications to satisfy, and server stability and availability—to name a few. And with Rockstar's perfectionist attitude, they might prefer not to share a compromised version of the game. To summarize, with all said, and to keep the summary brief, GTA 6 is conceivable to be sent to the Switch 2, with increased amounts of optimization done to play on the device, or based in the cloud.

Rockstar’s History with Nintendo Consoles

Through the years, the relationship between Rockstar and Nintendo has been spotty. The last time a GTA mainline game released for a Nintendo handheld was GTA: Chinatown Wars on the DS. More recently, GTA: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition was released for the original Switch in 2021.

The trilogy brought back classic popular titles like Vice City and San Andreas to the platform, though not without issues, capped at 30 fps, choppy frame rates, and other noticeable bugs, are hardly great performance. More indicative is what hasn't hit Nintendo in the past. GTA IV, GTA V, and Red Dead Redemption 2 all were passed on.

It seems Rockstar prefers hardware that enables their games to be experienced in the way they would like to be experienced, and Nintendo's family-friendly branding hasn't always matched the nature of the games like GTA. That said, Take Two Interactive (the parent company of Rockstar) stated recently its desire to explore Nintendo Switch 2 as a platform. CEO Strauss Zelnick even stated something like the brand is gaining adult attention and excitement. For now, though, it seems Rockstar is prioritizing hardware release on PlayStation and Xbox.

What Fans and the Industry Are Saying

The gaming community is certainly paying attention. Since Nintendo announced the specs for the Switch 2, fans have been discussing features from the Switch 2 that could make the leap over to the new console on social media forums like X (formerly known as Twitter) and Reddit. Not surprisingly, GTA 6 is one of those games mentioned frequently in conversation. Some journalists pointed out that the possibility of taking Cyberpunk and Elden Ring to Switch 2 suggests little else is out of the question in terms of ambition.

Still, most recognize that the only way a hypothetical GTA 6 may get there is a bespoke version of the game or if Rockstar launches a version that comes out much later after primary console releases. Many noted it’s at least unsurprising for Rockstar to not have comments on the matter, that it is consistent with their modus operandi of launching to primary consoles, then moving on with any other ports at another time.

There is a desire out there, though. In the meantime, the GTA 6 trailer had over 90 million views in the first 24 hours. Add that to the 146 million original Switch owners, and it is easy to see why some are hoping for a mobile or portable GTA, despite the odds not being strong for that anytime soon.

What This Means for Nintendo and Rockstar’s Future

If a version of GTA 6 ends up on the Switch 2, even an incomplete or cloudy one, it would be monumental for both companies. For Nintendo, it would be a tangible sign of leaning into mature, graphically expensive games and moving away from the old "kids' console" label. There were games like Doom Eternal and The Witcher 3 that have flirted with this idea, but GTA 6 would be a gigantic stamp of legitimacy.

For Rockstar, the portable and on-the-go could tap into millions of new players. The Steam Deck has proven that open-world games like GTA V are already performing well on handhelds. Regardless of the success of Switch 2 upon launch, an explosion of the Switch 2 base makes it worth Rockstar's time to think about revisiting the port.

Beyond this one title, the partnership could set a new precedent for future blockbuster games, and that could lead other AAA devs to reevaluate Nintendo hardware. There’s a lot of excitement surrounding Switch 2 and GTA 6, but it’s more than just hype. It may be the start of a new world in cross-platform gaming.