Rockstar Games disappoints with Red Dead Redemption news

Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption Re-release plans are not what fans of the series wanted

Rockstar Games has revealed that Red Dead Redemption is now coming to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, bringing the classic game to two new platforms. With the PlayStation 5’s backwards compatibility, the game is also coming to PlayStation 5, likely with no added enhancements.

Note that Rockstar Games are not bringing Red Dead Redemption to Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, or PC, with the former consoles already supporting the game through Xbox Backwards compatibility. With this announcement, Rockstar Games have hugely disappointed PC gamers, gamers who can play Red Dead Redemption 2, but not its predecessor. 

The PlayStation 4 and Switch versions of Red Dead Redemption come from Double Eleven Studios, who have worked to bring the classic game to new platforms. Rockstar has not called this re-release a “Remaster”, nor have they revealed any enhancements for the game, simply stating that the game will launch digitally on August 17th. It is probable that Red Dead Redemption will be capped at 30 FPS on both PlayStation 4 and Switch. 

On PlayStation 4 and Switch, Red Dead Redemption will launch with Red Dead Redemption’s standalone expansion, Undead Nightmare, included as a free add-on. Both games will also include support for new languages that include Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Korean, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, and Latin American Spanish.

At launch, Red Dead Redemption will be available for $49.99 in the US on the PlayStation Store and the Nintendo eShop.  

A lazy re-release?

As much as we hate to say it, everything about this reveal tells is that Rockstar has been lazy with this re-release of Red Dead Redemption. This is not marketed as a remake or a remaster, just as a re-release, and the lack of any announced improvements to the game, aside from support for new languages, these new versions of Red Dead Redemption appears to be the same as the Xbox 360-era original.

The lack of an PC release is disappointing, but the lack of an Xbox version is a clear sign of cost cutting measures, as is the lack of native current-generation PlayStation and Xbox support. PlayStation 5 support is available though PlayStation 4 backwards compatibility, and Xbox One/Series support is available through Xbox 360 backwards compatibility. These new versions of Red Dead Redemption are not designed to take advantage of current-generation hardware, they are simply designed to make the game playable on newer systems.

To say the least, gamers expected more from Rockstar than this. A PC version would have been a sure-fire hit, and graphical improvements are expected when re-releasing an Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 era game on modern consoles. Let’s just hope that this re-release is better than Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy Remastered was… 

You can join the discussion on Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption re-release plans on the OC3D Forums.