The prospect of a Red Dead Redemption 2 PC version has become even more real with what appears to be some new leaked footage. The video surfaced on YouTube, and though its provenance is unknown and should be treated with skepticism, it does appear to show the game running on PC complete with the usual assortment of graphics options. You can watch the full video below, and read on for more evidence on whether and when Red Dead Redemption 2's PC version will arrive.
Will Red Dead Redemption 2 come to PC?
The official answer right now is "no comment." All the way up to Red Dead Redemption 2's arrival on PS4 and Xbox One this past October, Rockstar only ever talked about the game coming to those two platforms. Parent company Take-Two has always referred all questions about the potential for Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC back to Rockstar, saying any announcements would come from the developer itself.
That's the official answer. But the good news is that, despite all the prevarication, there's a very good chance that Red Dead Redemption 2 will come to PC.
Red Dead Redemption 2 PC leak comes from companion app code
Red Dead Redemption 2's companion app gives you a handy way to keep track of your map and stats while freeing up real estate on your TV screen. It also reveals some telling hooks for a potential Red Dead Redemption 2 PC version if you fish around in the code, as reported by Rockstar Intel. The app has (or had) a few lines that reference PC-exclusive settings, including a line that rather definitively says "CommandIsPcVersion(void)".
All of this should be taken with a grain of salt, because it's equally plausible that Rockstar copied much of the app's code over from another project or a generic database and simply forgot to sweep out the PC parts. Thankfully, there's also a business precedent to think about.
Red Dead Redemption 2 PC prospects look better thanks to GTA 5
The original Red Dead Redemption never got a PC version, despite the fact that almost every GTA game has at one point or another. Heck, you can even get Bully on Steam. Rockstar's never publicly discussed this decision, but regardless of its reasons, the business proposition for Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC is very different. GTA 5 has remained a consistent top-seller on PC since it hit the platform in 2015, and it's a very popular platform for playing GTA Online. Rockstar wants to keep sales going for Red Dead Redemption 2 as long as possible, just as much as it wants to keep microtransactions flowing in Red Dead Online, so it would need a very good reason not to follow a similar path as GTA 5 for PC.
Red Dead Redemption 2 PC release date would probably be a while off
GTA 5 arrived on PC more than a year and a half after the game's initial debut on PS3 and Xbox 360, though Rockstar was also busy making GTA 5's PS4 and Xbox One versions before that. It's hard to say when PS5 and Xbox Project Scarlett will arrive, but unless Sony and Microsoft are keeping their big plans very secret, it sounds like they're still a ways off. That clears the way for Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC to be Rockstar's next project. In other words, hopefully we won't have to wait nearly as long for a Red Dead Redemption 2 PC version.
Check out our Red Dead Redemption 2 tips to make the most of your time in the Wild West.
