It sounds impossible, but Grand Theft Auto V—a game notorious for its massive storage footprint of over 100GB—has been successfully compressed to less than 2.5GB. This staggering 98% reduction isn’t an official patch from Rockstar Games, but rather an extreme optimization project by modder @OptiJogos, designed to bring the open-world giant to hardware that has no business running it.
The "Ultra-Lite" Treatment
To achieve a file size smaller than most mobile games, @OptiJogos had to take a scalpel (and occasionally a sledgehammer) to the game's assets. The visual and auditory fidelity of Los Santos has been stripped to its absolute bare bones.
The compromises are extensive:
Audio & Visuals: Almost all high-quality textures have been heavily compressed, and the game forces the lowest Level of Detail (LOD) models at all distances. Audio effects have largely been removed.
Content Cuts: The entire story mode campaign, side missions, and cutscenes are gone. Specific massive assets, such as the North Yankton map (which alone takes up 2GB), were deleted.
Map Reduction: The sprawling map of San Andreas has been trimmed down significantly. The only playable area is a specific section of Los Santos surrounding Michael De Santa’s house.
Characters: You can only play as Michael; switching to Franklin or Trevor is disabled.
But Does It Play?
Surprisingly, yes. Despite looking like a fever dream from the PlayStation 1 era, the core DNA of GTA V remains intact. Players can still run, jump, steal vehicles, drive around the limited map, and use base-game weapons. Even the police AI and wanted system function correctly, allowing for the chaotic chases the series is known for.
The project was demonstrated running on a government-issued netbook—hardware completely incapable of launching the standard version of the game—achieving a playable frame rate of around 30FPS.
Why Do This?
While many might view this as just a technical curiosity, the mod serves a genuine purpose for accessibility. @OptiJogos highlights that in regions like Brazil, high import taxes make modern gaming hardware prohibitively expensive for many. As a result, older, lower-spec laptops and PCs are far more common.
By stripping GTA V down to its atomic weight, this mod opens the door for players on "potato" PCs to experience the sandbox mechanics of one of the world's most popular games for the first time. It is a testament to how scalable the RAGE engine can be, provided you are willing to sacrifice... well, almost everything.
For those interested in testing the limits of their old hardware, the "ultra-compressed" version is available for download now, offering a unique, if blurry, window into Los Santos.
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