Rockstar Games never seriously talked about bringing its 2010 western action game Red Dead Redemption to PC. That's according to Kris Roberts, who worked on the title as its lead multiplayer designer. He talked about the project recently while answering questions on a Twitch livestream for Forza 6.
'We never even seriously talked about optimizing it for PC.'
Roberts said Red Dead Redemption was developed in a PC environment, but the game was 'pretty much always' going to be a console game only. He added that he was 'super shocked' that Rockstar made a PC edition of Grand Theft Auto V, which was released 18 months after the console edition originally shipped.
'I don't think there was ever an intention to have a PC version of Red Dead Redemption,' Roberts said. 'I was actually super shocked that they did a PC version of Grand Theft Auto V. Obviously in development, we were all PC-based and had it running for win32 clients for the entire development. But as far as the licensing for the consoles and stuff, it was pretty much always going to be a Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 title. To the best of my recollection, we never even seriously talked about optimizing it for PC.'
Roberts no longer works for Rockstar. He now serves as vehicle design specialist on H1Z1 for Daybreak Game Company, formerly known as Sony Online Entertainment.
His comments don't completely rule out Red Dead Redemption coming to PC. He left Rockstar in 2010 and it's possible Rockstar has reconsidered the idea, though this is not confirmed.
Red Dead Redemption was released in May 2010, winning rave reviews, including a 9.5/10 from GameSpot. After millions in sales, and comments from key figures, a sequel certainly sounds like a sure thing.
Via: NeoGAF
- Filed under:
- Red Dead Redemption
Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email [email protected]
The prospect of a Red Dead Redemption 2 PC version has become even more real with what appears to be some new leaked footage. The video surfaced on YouTube, and though its provenance is unknown and should be treated with skepticism, it does appear to show the game running on PC complete with the usual assortment of graphics options. You can watch the full video below, and read on for more evidence on whether and when Red Dead Redemption 2's PC version will arrive.
Red Dead On Pc Emulator
Will Red Dead Redemption 2 come to PC?
The official answer right now is 'no comment.' All the way up to Red Dead Redemption 2's arrival on PS4 and Xbox One this past October, Rockstar only ever talked about the game coming to those two platforms. Parent company Take-Two has always referred all questions about the potential for Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC back to Rockstar, saying any announcements would come from the developer itself.
That's the official answer. But the good news is that, despite all the prevarication, there's a very good chance that Red Dead Redemption 2 will come to PC.
Red Dead Redemption 2 PC leak comes from companion app code
Red Dead Redemption 2's companion app gives you a handy way to keep track of your map and stats while freeing up real estate on your TV screen. It also reveals some telling hooks for a potential Red Dead Redemption 2 PC version if you fish around in the code, as reported by Rockstar Intel. The app has (or had) a few lines that reference PC-exclusive settings, including a line that rather definitively says 'CommandIsPcVersion(void)'.
All of this should be taken with a grain of salt, because it's equally plausible that Rockstar copied much of the app's code over from another project or a generic database and simply forgot to sweep out the PC parts. Thankfully, there's also a business precedent to think about.
How To Get Red Dead On Pc
Red Dead Redemption 2 PC prospects look better thanks to GTA 5
The original Red Dead Redemption never got a PC version, despite the fact that almost every GTA game has at one point or another. Heck, you can even get Bully on Steam. Rockstar's never publicly discussed this decision, but regardless of its reasons, the business proposition for Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC is very different. GTA 5 has remained a consistent top-seller on PC since it hit the platform in 2015, and it's a very popular platform for playing GTA Online. Rockstar wants to keep sales going for Red Dead Redemption 2 as long as possible, just as much as it wants to keep microtransactions flowing in Red Dead Online, so it would need a very good reason not to follow a similar path as GTA 5 for PC.
Red Dead Redemption 2 PC release date would probably be a while off
GTA 5 arrived on PC more than a year and a half after the game's initial debut on PS3 and Xbox 360, though Rockstar was also busy making GTA 5's PS4 and Xbox One versions before that. It's hard to say when PS5 and Xbox Project Scarlett will arrive, but unless Sony and Microsoft are keeping their big plans very secret, it sounds like they're still a ways off. That clears the way for Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC to be Rockstar's next project. In other words, hopefully we won't have to wait nearly as long for a Red Dead Redemption 2 PC version.
Check out our Red Dead Redemption 2 tips to make the most of your time in the Wild West.
If you’re hanging on to the hope that Red Dead Redemption 2 is coming to PC this year or early in 2019, please give that up. Rockstar Games is launching its Western sequel for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on October 26, but it hasn’t said anything about a version for Windows. That’s disappointing — especially after the new trailer dropped today and gave us a first look at some 4K gameplay on a PlayStation 4 Pro.
So what is going on here? Is this a repeat of the original Red Dead Redemption? That game never came to PC, and it looks like it never will. When it comes to Rockstar, the same thing could end up happening to Red Dead Redemption 2. This is a studio that doesn’t have to do anything just because it makes sense. Grand Theft Auto V is the third game to surpass 100 million copies sold in the history of this business, so this is not a company that has to answer to anyone.
What’s more likely, however, is that Rockstar is doing a repeat of Grand Theft Auto V instead. That game debuted in 2013, and as its sales numbers suggest, it has sold well ever since. In those first three years, however, Rockstar was able to give it a couple of sales boosts with new releases.
It hit Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in September 2013. A year later, in November 2014, Rockstar launched it on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Finally, it hit PC in April of 2015. Those ports obviously expose the game to new audiences, but GTAV seemed to benefit from people buying the game again on more powerful consoles, and then maybe buying it a third time to get the superior PC version that supports mods.
With Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar could do something similar. It’s launching on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in October, and then maybe it comes to PC late in 2019. And then, if we get new consoles in 2020 or 2021, Rockstar can potentially release an update version for those systems as well (although I expect backward compatibility might limit repeat purchases for those devices).
One last thing. If Red Dead Redemption 2 does come to PC next year, do you think it will end up on Steam? Or does Rockstar and parent company Take-Two Interactive pull a Fallout 76 and move to their own launcher where they no longer have to share revenue with Valve? My bet is that we are using the Rockstar Launcher for Red Dead on PC by the end of 2019.