Gaming

Will Red Dead Redemption 2 come to PC? Let’s take a deeper look

Written by Muhammad Usman ·  1 min read >

Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the greatest titles of 2018. But PC gamers are still watching its gameplay videos, all the while secretly hoping that one day it will also come to PC. Today, we have collected a few leads which may hint that a PC version is in the works.

Back in December 2018, a video was uploaded on Youtube, which showed the graphics panel for Red Dead Redemption 2. The options visible in that graphics panel are specifically for use only on a PC. However, soon after it was uploaded, the video was deleted along with the account. But fear not, it was was captured and reuploaded by another watchful and friendly YouTuber. You can see the video below:

As far as the authenticity of this video goes, we can’t be sure at this moment. The fonts and overall presentation do seem legit, but if the video does indeed show the game running on PC, why not show some of the gameplay? Also, why use a separate camera to record? It may as well be fake.

Moving on to our next, and slightly more promising lead. The release of the game was accompanied by a companion app. Data miners found files inside the app with multiple references to a PC version. For instance, within the files there is this line: ‘PARAM_companionAutoConnectIpPC‘. It seems to refer connecting to PC as it presently connects to the game on Xbox One or PlayStation.

Specifically, the app has perimeters for graphics options that are only found on PC. For instance, anisotropic quality levels, TXAA, particle shadow quality, particle lighting quality, motion blur strength, grass quality, reflections, shadow distance, and others.

There is also a mention of Oculus (the VR headset that is for PC only). This tells us that if there is going to be a PC version, it’s probably going to be VR ready. All this points to the fact that the app may have been made with the PC version in mind.

Moving on to the history of Rockstar games, until GTA 3, PC version came at the same time as consoles. It is GTA 4 when things started going badly for PC versions. GTA 4 came about seven months after its initial release while GTA 5 took a staggering 17 months before coming to PC.

It is also to be noted that GTA 5 made millions of dollars in PC version alone. Although the Red Dead Redemption series is console exclusive, this could be a strong motivator for Rockstar games to port the game to PC. All they have to do is port an already well-made game that has proven itself in the market. With the track record of the game so far, it is bound to succeed.

That’s all we know for now. Our best guess is that Red Dead Redemption 2 will come to PC sometime in summer 2019.