Los Santos Speaks ARM, Modder Gets GTA V Running Natively on the Original Nintendo Switch

Rockstar never released Grand Theft Auto V for Nintendo hardware. M0jso and Paralympics Productions completed the project in late August 2026 with an unofficial homebrew build that runs directly on the original Switch. The code from the 2023 leak of GTA V Legacy version 1.0.2699, the same lineage used on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, has been modified and recompiled for ARM, allowing the Tegra X1 and Horizon OS to treat it as a regular title. There is no Linux layer in the middle, no Android wrapper that interprets calls, no stream from another system, and the game is read in the CPU’s native language.

The majority of the work here is performed by four primary pieces of software. A package builder converts patched files into an installable NSP. An asset converter does its best to rebuild PC textures and models so that they would operate with Horizon OS. Modified config files are utilized to lower the draw distance and particle counts so that the engine does not become completely clogged while attempting to do everything. A rigorous organizational layout keeps everything neat and tidy in place. Overall, they manage to fit a 49-gigabyte Los Santos inside the console’s limited 4GB memory. If you follow the Discord recommendations, you’ll still need a legitimate copy of the PC game and a Switch that can run custom firmware. Remember that you can use pre-made archives to avoid the complete conversion process.

Stock frame rates range from 10 to 25 per second, which fluctuates greatly depending on the scenario and, if you’re unlucky, the type of silicon you’re using. Quiet residential streets tend to be on the higher end of that spectrum, whereas main shopping centers clogged with traffic and pedestrians will plunge you right to the bottom. If you’re feeling bold, you can use Sys-CLK or the more extreme alternative, Horizon OC, to slightly boost the frame rate. With an OLED screen and no RAM modifications, you can even go up to a smooth 30 fps in the more basic sections. When you meet a crowded mission or an explosion, you are quickly returned to the lower end. The only downside is that your battery life will decrease significantly, as is to be expected with any demanding piece of custom software. As a result, the overall experience feels more like an old PS3 or Xbox 360 game than a newer console version, despite the fact that the code is virtually new.

Driving and shooting seem a little awkward and heavy with Joy-Cons, but when you connect in a Pro controller, things improve significantly. Early footage looked fairly bad, with plenty of broken rendering and crashes; later updates improved a lot of that, and they’ve promised a few more to follow, especially after the same technology is moved to Android. Saves now work, cinematic music plays, and you can even travel around the open world without the game crashing after a few minutes. It’s not horrible considering this is a 2013 game crammed onto a 2017 handheld that wasn’t designed for it, but things could have been far worse. If you own a Switch 2, you can just wait for the official announcement; if you don’t, and your first Switch already has custom firmware, you can load up Los Santos tonight and accept that you’ll have to deal with the occasional frame drop and other issues.