A fan mod reduces the installation size of GTA 5 from over 100 GB to just 2.5 GB, but the price is high.
GTA 5, like many games these days, is considered a traditional memory hog. For years, the installation size has been climbing to 100 GB, and in some cases even more.
One fan is now showing how Rockstar Games’ open-world epic can theoretically be slimmed down: with a mod that reduces the installation size to 2.5 GB. In return, the graphics and playability of GTA 5 are literally torn to pieces.
How GTA 5 shrinks to 2.5 GB
The GTA 5 mod comes from Argentine modder “OptiJuegos,” who shares his approach on his YouTube channel.
- In order for the game to fit onto 2.5 GB at all, the mod delves deep into the game files and removes entire areas of the game world.
- Parts of the map, individual missions, and audio files are deleted to free up storage space.
- The graphics quality is also… let’s call it “reduced,” as OptiJuegos simplifies many of the textures.
The result is a Los Santos that only vaguely resembles the original: textures are flat and lack detail, there is massive clipping, and animations are visibly choppy.
Although the basic gameplay elements from GTA 5 – i.e., fights, car rides, and shootouts – remain possible in principle, the frame rate repeatedly drops into the single-digit FPS range, as you can see in the video below. Does this bring back memories of the PS1 era for anyone else?
Comprimi GTA 5 DE 120GB A TAN SOLO 2.5 GB
Esto se hizo gracias a eliminar el 98% del juego. Goodbye missions, audio, maps, etc.! The impressive thing is that the game still works after all these cuts, and it’s actually super playable! pic.twitter.com/Be5J7sHxiQ
— OptiJuegos (@OptiJogos) February 14, 2026
Memory experiments as a symptom of a larger problem
The 2.5 GB mod for Grand Theft Auto 5 can confidently be understood as a side swipe at current game developments. Ever larger textures, more complex worlds, and constant content updates are driving up memory requirements, while memory prices are also rising as a result of demand from AI and cloud data centers.
For PC gamers, this sometimes means, at least in theory, an either/or decision when choosing which “AAA” title will be the next to take up 100 GB or more of disk space. The GTA 5 mod answers this question in an exaggerated way with a “throw everything away” approach – and shows how far the extreme can go.