"No Downside" To Red Dead Redemption 2 On PC, Take-Two CEO Says

Red Dead Redemption 2 is coming to PC--officially. After a long period in which Rockstar and Take-Two played coy, the game has been confirmed for both the platform and Stadia in November, with a Steam release to follow in in December. While exciting, this seemed inevitable given past comments, despite the fact that Red Dead Redemption never made it to PC. You can see what Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick said on the subject earlier this year below.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is rumored to, at some point down the road, release on PC. Nothing is confirmed currently. Developer Rockstar Games has made no announcements, and neither has parent company Take-Two. Despite that, evidence continues to mount for the acclaimed western releasing on PC.

Speaking at an investor briefing this week in New York City, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick responded to the assertion that launching Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC would be a "layup." That's a basketball metaphor for something very easy to do.

Zelnick succinctly responded, "There is no downside to releasing the game on PC."

That's all he had to say on the subject. His response is interesting and noteworthy, however. Zelnick is asked regularly about bringing Red Dead Redemption 2 to PC, and up until now, his public response had been that he would let Rockstar speak for itself. Zelnick is confirming nothing with his new statement, but it is a notable change of form for the executive.

Looking at Rockstar's history, it seems likely that Red Dead Redemption 2 may eventually release on PC. Rockstar's previous release, Grand Theft Auto V, came to PC in April 2015, which was five months after the release of GTA V on PS4 and Xbox One and 18 months after GTA V originally launched on PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2013.

For Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar and Sony had an exclusivity deal for some content, though whether or not this impacts the game launching on other platforms, like PC, is unknown. For what it's worth, 2010's original Red Dead Redemption never came to PC.

Red Dead Redemption 2 has shipped more than 24 million copies, which makes it one of the most commercially successful games in history. Launching on PC would only further increase the sales number, which is probably what Zelnick is referring to when he says "there is no downside" to bringing the game to PC.

Red Dead Redemption 2's online mode, Red Dead Online, recently left beta with a huge update. Rockstar continues to support the online mode, and lots more content is coming over time.

Rockstar isn't announced as an attendee for E3 2019, but Take-Two will be at the show where it will go big on hyping Borderlands 3 from Gearbox Software.