‘Red Dead Redemption’ Reissue Stirs Resentment Towards Beloved Developer

When the original Red Dead Redemption appeared on a Korean video game ratings board last month, it was convincing proof that gamers may finally get what they’ve wanted for years now: a proper remaster of the now 13-year-old game.

Unfortunately for these fans, Rockstar finally made clear what this mysterious listing was actually for Monday, in an announcement that was a lot less exciting than they had hoped.

“In a new conversion by Double Eleven Studios, the Switch and PS4 versions bring the two classic experiences [the original game and its expansion] together again for both new players and original fans to enjoy across modern consoles, including backwards compatibility with the PlayStation 5,” a press release from the company reads. The ports release on Aug. 17 for $49.99, and no enhancements were teased aside from support for additional languages.

The resentment from gamers online built quickly after the announcement.

“No PS5 version? That’s really disappointing so no haptic feedback or 60FPS?” one person posted in reply to the game’s announcement trailer. “Come on Rockstar, even GTA Trilogy had a PS5 version, how can you release a remaster in 2023 without a native PS5 port?”

“I wasn't expecting much, but a port of a 13 year old game to a 10 year old console with no enhancements for $50?” another posted.

The YouTube video for the game’s trailer has over 93,000 dislikes, nearly three times the amount of likes.

Since Red Dead Redemption 2 was released in 2018, fans have collectively waited and hoped for a full remaster of the original game, expecting polished graphics and stronger performance. The fact that its sequel ends right where the first game begins only added to their hopes.

Red Dead Redemption is one of the hundreds of great games that were previously trapped on the original PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 hardware. The port does make these games available on more systems, though notably not PC. For PC players, who got Red Dead Redemption 2 in 2019, the original has never been ported from consoles, meaning they can never experience the full narrative of the series.

"It isn’t even releasing for PC or PS5 directly," wrote one fan.

Even for Xbox players, who can play the Xbox 360 version on modern Microsoft consoles thanks to backwards compatibility, there is room for improvement. While the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S do upscale Red Dead to a 1440p resolution, an option to play the game with an improved framerate may be enticing enough to justify an upgrade for some players.

For Rockstar and its parent company Take Two, releasing Red Dead Redemption on PlayStation 4 is a sound choice. As successful as the PlayStation 5 has been, it has nowhere near the install base of the PlayStation 4’s 117 million units sold. It is a strategy that is often used in the games industry to maximize the reach of a game with widespread appeal: it’s why sports games are often being released on older hardware well after other developers have stopped supporting it. It is also why Electronic Arts is porting the newest Star Wars game to older consoles as well.

But the optics of releasing a 13-year-old game on PlayStation 4, practically untouched for $50, when that same game is $30 on a competing platform is not going over well, with the top post on the Red Dead Redemption subreddit calling it a “cash grab.”

“No Graphical enhancements. No fps enhancements. No multiplayer,” the post says. “If you want a proper remake/remaster then don't buy this cash grab.”

The fan disappointment echoes sentiments that followed the last time a Rockstar game was re-released. Nearly a year and a half ago, the launch of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition was regarded as a total disaster. The Trilogy, which packaged the three PS2-era Grand Theft Auto games in a $60 collection in time for the first game’s 20th anniversary, was filled with numerous bugs, an unstable framerate, questionable reworking of the games’ original aesthetic, an almost broken port on Switch, and a myriad of other issues. The title was even briefly pulled from storefronts over files unintentionally left in the final release.

Before The Trilogy’s launch, Rockstar also pulled the originals from online retailers like the PlayStation Store and Steam, meaning the only way to revisit these games was to buy the controversial new $50 versions. While a number of patches were made for the so-called Definitive Edition post-launch, many of its issues still exist today.

While there is no more information about the Red Dead Redemption re-issue than provided in the press release, the handling of the GTA Trilogy does leave room for skepticism. Much like the Trilogy, which was handled by in-house mobile developer Grove Street Games instead of original developers Rockstar North, the PS4 and Switch version of Red Dead is being ported by a studio that isn’t the original Rockstar San Diego team.

However, unlike Grove Street Games, Double Eleven Studios has experience working on console and PC ports, including Crackdown 3, Minecraft Dungeons and Fallout 76.

Rockstar Games did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

While Rockstar never promised the public a remaster or remake of the beloved Western game, the lack of any communication surrounding a more advanced and available re-issue has frustrated a community desperate for anything new from one of the industry’s leading developers.