Nintendo Switch finally runs GTA 5 with heavy modding

Launched in 2013, Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5) still stands as one of the most popular games. While Rockstar Games eventually brought the game to PC and modern consoles, the Nintendo Switch has yet to get its official port. But that hasn’t stopped modders from making it run on the handheld console.

The modding group in the highlight is called Superstar South Studios, and the team has been trying to get the game running Switch for quite a while now. Previous videos shared by the modders showed that GTA 5 wouldn’t get past the loading screen. But the latest footage shows off the handheld console playing the prologue chapter.

As the latest video shows, the experience on the Nintendo Switch isn’t as enjoyable as running the game on something more capable (such as Lenovo Legion Go that’s curr. $628.99 on Amazon). It’s choppy with bad frame drops, but Superstar South has noted that the gameplay is only this bad during recording. That is, the actual hardware output is a little better.

Another thing to note is that the visuals of GTA V took a hit to make it run on the handheld gaming console, with the textures being unrefined in many areas. Now, while the modders were able to get Switch to run and play the game, it still crashes after a few minutes of gameplay.

Even so, it’s pretty impressive that the modders were able to make GTA 5 finally run on Nintendo Switch. Of course, this unofficial port of the game wouldn’t have been possible with the source code leak that happened in December of last year. That opened up the gates for modders to customize the game as they wanted.

It would definitely be nice to see Rockstar Games officially releasing the Grand Theft Auto 5 port for Nintendo Switch one day. The gaming handheld console does have very dated hardware, but given that the game was originally released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, the Switch port does seem possible.

However, that’s unlikely to happen, as the December 2023 leak indicated that Rockstar Games never planned to release the game for the Nintendo Switch. Also, the developers are likely fully focused on GTA VI, which will be released next year for Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.