by theygamesSomehow, we live in a reality where we’ve gotten a new version of Grand Theft Auto 5 – a Grand Theft Auto 5: 2, if you will – before GTA 6. It’s an unusual world, but then again, it’s nice to have an excuse to revisit Los Santos one final time. The GTA 5 Enhanced PC edition is finally here, bringing with it a bundle of visual and audio enhancements, faster loading times, and all the improvements previously reserved for console-based GTA+ players. It sounds good, but despite a huge influx of players in its opening few hours, the new Grand Theft Auto 5 is struggling to attract adulation.
The GTA 6 release date is on its way and we’re going back to Vice City. But before then, Grand Theft Auto 5 Enhanced edition is the ideal reason to take a victory lap around Los Santos and GTA Online. Arriving today, Tuesday March 4, it’s available for free and essentially upgrades Grand Theft Auto 5 across the board. Ray tracing is possible, loading times are faster, the Career Builder is now available, and you can access all the vehicles from Hao’s Special Works. To access the improved version of the sandbox game, you just have to download the Enhanced edition, go into the menus, and move your progress over.
As of this writing, GTA 5 Enhanced is only three hours old, having landed on Steam at 4am PST / 7am EST / 12pm GMT. Naturally, given it’s a new release from Rockstar, the player count is gigantic – already, GTA 5 Enhanced has reached a concurrent user high of more than 187,000. However, if you check its Steam page, you might notice something else first. Right now, only 59% of user reviews are positive, sticking GTA 5 Enhanced with a ‘mixed’ rating overall.
Chiefly, players who have posted negative reviews say that the Enhanced edition doesn’t make enough of a difference to the base version of GTA 5 to warrant a new download. Others say that they have had difficulties when attempting to transfer their existing GTA 5 data to the new version, or that the loading times, while faster, are not faster enough. Some players say that they have experienced lag, while others jokingly post negative reviews that ‘criticize’ GTA 5 Enhanced for not being Grand Theft Auto 6.
The majority of reviews are still positive, however, with players praising the improved visuals and explaining that they have been able to get into lobbies much more quickly. Other players also describe how the game performs well on their hardware. As more GTA 5 fans download and play the Enhanced edition, its Steam rating is bound to change.
In the meantime, you can learn everything about GTA 6 via our own, comprehensive GTA Db. If you’re returning to Los Santos with the Enhanced edition, you might also want the best GTA 5 mods list, updated for 2025.
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