Controversial game Red Dead Redemption coming to PC this fall

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Back in 2010, Rockstar would release one of the year’s top games. Red Dead Redemption may have not changed the gaming landscape like the GTA games did, but it sure was a jolly good cowboy adventure with open-world gameplay, bringing a smile to many video game fans the world over…

The game shipped for PS3 and the Xbox 360, and arrived later on Nintendo Switch. This left many PC gamers disgruntled, as until now the only way to play Rockstar’s cowboy adventure had been via streaming, using Sony’s now-defunct PS Now service or the newer, more expensive PlayStation Plus Premium service.

Of course, PC players could also get to play Red Dead Redemption by dabbling on the grey area of emulation, but it’s likely many were not willing to walk down that path…

So it’s a good thing that Rockstar has finally decided to put out the game for PC, more than 14 years after its console release. The game will be hitting the PC on October 29 this year, and will be priced at $50 US dollars. The PC version of Red Dead Redemption will feature configurable graphics settings, the highlight being support for 4K resolution.

The game also supports ultrawide PC monitors, graphics upscaling technologies like Nvidia’s DLSS, and PC gamers can also dabble with settings such as shadow quality, while there is support for keyboard and mouse controls, of course…

This release of Red Dead Redemption will likely generate controversy, though, starting with its $50 US dollar price tag. This seems slightly off for what is merely a port of the original console game with graphical enhancements, and not a remaster of the game.

Also, the PC system requirements seem a bit on the high side for a port of a 2010 game. The recommended graphics card is a Nvidia RTX 2070, which was a strong mid-range card when it launched back in late 2018, and it is still above what the average PC user has in his or her rig. And this PC port does look pretty dated despite the graphical enhancements judging by the trailer above…

There’s also the matter, also controversial, of why Rockstar took so long to port the game to PC. Red Dead Redemption arrived on Nintendo Switch last summer, a much less powerful platform, which despite selling millions still has with a smaller installed user base than PC.

The PC version of Red Dead Redemption is being worked on by a studio named Double Eleven, with Rockstar seemingly outsourcing another video game release like they did with the GTA Trilogy back in 2021, and there’s no need to repeat what a disaster that turned out to be.

John Marston is heading to PC this fall.

Of course, the original Red Dead Redemption was a controversial game back in the day. Aside from a good dose of sexism (and a large dose of wanton violence) you expect from the likes of Rockstar, the game was also accused of racism. Its portrayal of native Americans was less than flattering. Also, an Irish character featured in the game is something of a stereotype too…

Nonetheless, it’s still a good thing that Red Dead Redemption is finally coming to PC, together with its (very good) Undead Nightmare expansion. Other companies like Sony have been more diligent about bringing their games to PC in the last couple of years, and if Rockstar manages to release a solid PC port of this classic game set in the wild west, then PC gamers will be happy, at least until GTA 6 hits the PC that is…

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