Despite being nearly nine years old, Grand Theft Auto 5 still receives regular updates, with Rockstar tweaking and fixing gameplay while squashing numerous bugs that may still exist within the game. A few days ago, Rockstar quietly released an update that made some big changes exclusive to next-gen consoles.

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Quality of Life Changes and Stability Improvements in GTA 5 Update 1.56

Update 1.56 includes the option of adding motion blur to the console editions of Grand Theft Auto 5. Those playing on PlayStation or Xbox will now be able to find a “motion blur” slider in the options menu, allowing players to add, customize, and remove motion blur to better customize their gameplay experience. As the name suggests, motion blur will blur the world around a player when they’re moving fast – like speeding down a highway – making driving GTA 5’s fastest cars a lot more enjoyable.

The smallest yet probably most significant change made in Grand Theft Auto 5’s 1.56 update is the reduction in loading time. Players will no longer suffer through as long a loading screen as they have before, and the update applies this to multiple facets of the game. This change impacts both GTA Online matchmaking and Story Mode. Switching characters in Story Mode has also become faster. Transitioning from Story Mode to GTA Online is also much quicker than before, giving players a smoother transition whenever they want to play the multiplayer portion of the game.

Some issues that were specific to Xbox console versions have been rectified in this update – namely, the various audio bugs littered across gameplay and bringing mayhem to the GTA 5 experience. Interestingly enough, this wasn’t the case for PlayStation players, as it was an Xbox problem exclusively. The issue saw no game audio playing while gamers were using Xbox party chat during Online play, and Rockstar has now fixed it. A bug where the player’s radio went missing is also fixed, and the update has solved the audio issues that occur after opening the Xbox guide.

On the other side of the console fence, the PlayStation 5 version of Grand Theft Auto 5 has had a specific bug squashed. Players can once again enjoy a smooth driving experience with one of GTA 5’s best cars. An issue that caused the adaptive trigger feedback to be too strong while driving the Hao’s Special Works upgraded Grotti Turismo Classic has been fixed.

GTA Online players have been getting permanently banned by mistake for a while. In Update 1.56, this is thankfully no longer the case, and players who have been wrongfully banned now have their accounts fully restored. On top of that, those who have been unable to save their progress in GTA Online can now save as normal, although it is unclear whether players can restore their previously unsaved sessions. The bug causing players to get stuck on a black screen when migrating a character to a next-generation console has also been fixed.

PC players have found that there is a folder named after the update, but its contents are empty. Speculation suggests that the PC version of this update will arrive soon. Full update notes can be found on the official support website for Rockstar Games.

Grand Theft Auto 5 is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.

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Source: Rockstar