Rockstar, you rascals, you did it again. We’re all well-used to the company’s weird song and dance that happens with all of its new releases: It’ll hit consoles, then around a year or so later it inevitably makes the leap to PC where lots of people buy it again, but I confess I wasn’t expecting it to pull the same stunt with the original Red Dead Redemption.
The OG RDR hit the Nintendo Switch and PS4 last year in a move I called “baffling” for its apparent decision to skip PC. A little over a year on and, well, guess what? Red Dead Redemption 1 is coming to PC, alongside its spooktacular American Nightmare expansion. It hits on October 29, just in time for Halloween. No multiplayer though. Sorry, social people.
It’s got a bunch of bells and whistles to make up for the wait, too. Per Rockstar’s announcement, the PC version of RDR is coming with all sorts of enhancements to make John Marston more excruciatingly detailed than ever. That means “native 4K resolution at up to 144hz on compatible hardware, monitor support for both Ultrawide (21:9) and Super Ultrawide (32:9), HDR10 support, and full keyboard and mouse functionality.” There’s also DLSS 3.7 and FSR 3.0 support, just like they had in the real Wild West.
If you’re sat there asking yourself what the heck a Red Dead Redemption is, then firstly, welcome to Earth, and second: It’s Rockstar’s sombre cowboy tale from all the way back in 2010. It takes place after Red Dead Redemption 2 and stars John Marston as he tracks down the surviving members of the Van der Linde Gang. Think of it as, well, a kind of cowboy GTA, but with a bit more soul and a bit less nihilism than you can find in GTA 5. Rockstar was still in its soulful GTA 4 era back then, after all.
RDR 1 is coming to most places you might want to buy it. You’ll be able to find it on Steam, the Epic Games Store (no live link yet), or directly from Rockstar, if that appeals.