Red Dead Redemption 2
As a result, there is very little information to actually go on to tell us whether or not a PC release of Red Dead Redemption 2 will be happening.
When Rockstar does bring a game to PC, it’s normally a few months to a year after the initial launch on console. As Red Dead Redemption 2 hasn’t even been announced for PC, we know for sure that come October 26th there will be no PC version. But is it likely that Rockstar will announce a PC version after Red Dead Redemption 2’s launch?
Rockstar’s Previous Games
To give us a better idea, perhaps Rockstar’s history with previous games could give us an indication of just how likely this is.
When Grand Theft Auto IV was announced, there was no confirmation of a PC release by Rockstar, even though it was heavily rumoured at the time. The game went on to be released in April 2008 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but it wasn’t until August 2008 that a PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV was actually announced, with the game being released that November.
Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar’s next big release, did not come to PC, despite being a huge success on PS3 an Xbox 360 when it launched in the summer of 2010. Rockstar has never come out and stated exactly why Red Dead Redemption never released on PC, only going as far as to say in a blog post that they aim to release all games on PC were viable, but unfortunately, that’s not always the case.
What makes the Red Dead series different from Rockstar’s other games is the fact that none of the previous Red Dead games has ever released on PC. It’s typical for Rockstar to release games on the PC after their initial launch on consoles, but Red Dead has always been exclusive to consoles.
Grand Theft Auto V is Rockstar’s most recent release and was first announced in 2011 for PS3 and Xbox 360. What we didn’t know at the time was that Rockstar was already planning on re-releasing GTAV for the next-generation of consoles and PC.
GTA V released in September 2013 on Xbox 360 and PS3 with no indication that a PC release was on the cards. However, at E3 2014, Rockstar came out and announced that GTA V would be releasing on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One later that year, with the PC version coming in 2015. A likely explanation for the delay in the announcement of a PC version was a result of Rockstar working on the next-gen versions, which was ultimately what the PC game was.
If Rockstar’s history is anything to go by, we probably won’t get an announcement for Red Dead Redemption 2 coming to PC until Q1 2019, at the very earliest. If that’s the case, a PC release by the end of 2019 would seem most likely.
Red Dead Redemption 2 PC Rumours
The only rumour with any form of “evidence” regarding a PC release of Red Dead Redemption 2 came earlier this year when a Rockstar employee’s LinkedIn profile listed PC as a platform for the game. As you would expect, that was quickly taken down, and there’s every chance that it was just a mistake.
Other than that, there really haven’t been any other rumours or leaks that suggest a PC release is in the works.
The only other comment about Red Dead Redemption 2 coming to PC comes from Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick. He refused to confirm one way or another if the game would be heading to PC but did state, “Any updates about any of our titles will come from our labels.”
Is Red Dead Redemption 2 Likely to Come to PC?
That’s the million dollar question right now. While the popularity of Red Dead Redemption 2 and the huge interest it would attract from the PC gaming community would seem to make it an almost certain PC release, this is Rockstar we’re talking about, after all, and you can never be sure until they make that announcement.
While no previous Red Dead game has ever been released on PC, it’s unlikely that the reason behind it is Rockstar not having any interest in the PC market. It’s most likely due to a number of technical difficulties with porting a game over to the PC. Back in 2010, porting a console game was a lot harder to do than it is now. These days it is a lot more straightforward, especially with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One being closer to resembling a PC than the PS3 and Xbox 360. So from a technical point of view and with the resources Rockstar has, it would seem like a very strange decision not to bring Red Dead Redemption 2 to PC.
Not only that, but they are almost guaranteed to sell millions of copies of the game on PC as Grand Theft Auto V did. According to Ars Technica, Grand Theft Auto V has sold over 12 million copies on Steam. There’s no getting away from the fact that the PC market is absolutely huge, and if there’s one thing Rockstar love, it’s making money. For that reason alone, we would expect to see the game come to PC.
While nothing is confirmed, we would be pretty surprised if Red Dead Redemption 2 was not announced at some point in 2019 to be coming to PC. The sales records of previous Rockstar games on PC speak for themselves, and from a technical standpoint, Red Dead Redemption 2 should be easier to port to PC than previous Red Dead titles.