Riding High: Red Dead Redemption 2 Heads to Current-Gen Consoles in 2024

A recent leak from the FTC has exciting news for fans of the acclaimed western game Red Dead Redemption 2, as it appears the game is headed for current-gen consoles. Red Dead Redemption 2 initially made its debut in late 2018 and received widespread acclaim, even securing a Game Awards nomination for Game of the Year. However, the game's Online component struggled to match the success of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto Online and lost support from the developer last year.

The discontinuation of support for Red Dead Redemption 2's online mode left many fans dissatisfied. Combined with the rocky launch of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition in 2021, Rockstar's reputation took a hit. Most recently, Rockstar released a port of the original Red Dead Redemption for the PS4 and Nintendo Switch, drawing criticism for its steep $50 price tag for a game originally released in 2010.

Despite these recent setbacks, fans of Red Dead Redemption 2 have reason to celebrate, as the game is poised to arrive on current-gen consoles in its native form. A significant leak from May 2022, which unveiled numerous Xbox plans for the coming years, revealed that Red Dead Redemption 2 is scheduled to have a native release on Xbox Series X|S sometime between January and March of 2024. Since Red Dead 2 is a third-party game, a native version for the PS5 can also be expected.

The leaked document focused on potential games that Xbox could bring to Game Pass on day one. In light of this, Xbox anticipates that Rockstar may request $5 million per month to launch the port on Xbox's service on day one, should they strike a Game Pass deal. This move aligns with Rockstar's past practices, such as re-releasing Grand Theft Auto 5 across multiple console generations since its original launch a decade ago. The question that lingers is whether gamers will be willing to make another full purchase for a native PS5 and Series X|S version of Red Dead 2, considering the game's already impressive backward compatible versions.

With the native current-gen version of Red Dead Redemption 2 slated for release in Q1 2024, fans can expect to hear more about it before the year's end, possibly at The Game Awards in December. While rumors circulate about the development of Red Dead Redemption 3 at Rockstar, the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 is widely expected to be the studio's next major release.