Earlier this year, it was reported that Rockstar Games was working on a remaster of the GTA trilogy and, if that was successful, would do the original Red Dead Redemption after that. Given the sheer popularity of these titles and the fact that Rockstar typically goes years between releases, it was exciting news for fans of both franchises.
It should be noted, however, that Rockstar has yet to comment on these reports. In fact, the only real thing that has been said is that it’s composed of Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas, and various sources have said the release date could be as early as fall 2021 or in late 2022. This could all change at the drop of a dime with a single word from Rockstar, and inherently, this impacts the Red Dead Redemption remaster as well.
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Notably, however, that may be only one barrier on the road to Red Dead Redemption being remastered. Considering development time on it alone would likely put it a year or two after the aforementioned GTA trilogy, but at the same time, Red Dead Redemption 2 may serve as another roadblock.
Red Dead Redemption 2 on PS5 and Xbox Series X
Red Dead Redemption 2 has often been hailed as one of the most beautiful and best games of the PS4 and Xbox One generation, and for that reason and much more, many are hoping the game eventually gets a proper PS5 and Xbox Series X port. Grand Theft Auto 5’s Enhanced and Expanded Edition is just that for GTA 5, and while unconfirmed, it stands to reason that Red Dead 2 would take near, if not as, long to develop.
GTA 5’s upgrade was announced in June 2020 but isn’t set for release until November 2021. Now, the pandemic likely factored into this, but with nearly a year and half between announcement and release, that means Red Dead Redemption 2 on PS5/Xbox Series X could take as long—if it is not already in the works.
And that presents a problem—even for a company as big as Rockstar, its slow-but-gold reputation isn’t likely to be shaken. The developer is reportedly working on Grand Theft Auto 6, these GTA 5 enhancements, and the GTA remastered trilogy. Even with all the support of its studios, throwing Red Dead Redemption 2 on PS5 and Xbox Series X, as well as Red Dead Redemption remastered, into the mix means fans could be getting ports for most of the decade.
It's not uncommon for developers to solicit outside support when it comes to remastering, and if Rockstar took this route, that could speed up the development process. That said, Rockstar isn’t exactly known for remasters and so all of this is up in the air as far as to what Rockstar is planning.
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Red Dead Redemption 1 Remastered Ports
With this in mind, the GTA Trilogy isn’t likely the one reason RDR1 remastered could be years away. But, on a generous non-pandemic timeline, it stands to reason that GTA 5 Enhanced and Expanded releases in 2021, GTA remastered trilogy in 2022, RDR2 on PS5 and Xbox Series X in 2023, and finally RDR1 remastered in 2024. This would provide a lot of goldies while fans wait for a release of GTA 6, which could fit snugly in the middle of the decade.
Still, development time, marketing, and release schedule aside, there are two more problems that any sort of port of Red Dead Redemption 1 and even 2 that has to be addressed. Rockstar Games, in theory, could just skip RDR2 upgrades or make minor adjustments, with the latter being acceptable but the former hurting a lot of fans.
All of this comes on the premise that fans want to play both games on the strongest hardware possible, which is how Rockstar deals with RDR2 on PS5 and Xbox Series X presents the first major obstacle. After all, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to remaster the first game for the latest generation of hardware when RDR2 isn’t updated for it either.
The second is Red Dead Redemption’s ports itself. It is playable via backward compatibility of some sort on PS4 and Xbox One, but it should be noted that the game only saw a proper release on PS3 and Xbox 360. It stands to reason then that getting Red Dead Redemption Remaster on PS5 and Xbox Series X would take extra elbow grease, and even then, it depends on how far this remaster went.
It should be noted that the keyword here is remaster, which could come down to enhanced graphics, but it wouldn’t go as far as a full remake of RDR1 in the vein of RDR2 (which would take longer but almost certainly be welcome). Remasters can, at times, find the middle ground where it’s not just a new coat of paint but comes with several QoL updates—something that would benefit RDR1 greatly but also further increase development time.
At the end of the day, Rockstar and parent company Take-Two Interactive are the only ones “in the know” about this. Its plans for remasters are currently kept secret, but Take-Two has several remasters in the work. No matter how long it takes, many fans likely hope that Red Dead Redemption 1 finds itself among them.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
