Red Dead Redemption 2 PC release confirmed out of nowhere

By Eric Abent/

After years of rumors, speculation, and requests from fans, the Red Dead Redemption series is finally coming to PC. Rockstar revealed today that it's bringing Red Dead Redemption 2 to PC, and those who were holding out for such an announcement luckily don't have much longer to wait, as the PC version will be out next month.

More specifically, Red Dead Redemption 2 will be launching on PC on November 5th. It'll be available through the freshly-launched Rockstar Games Launcher, but you'll have other options beyond that including Greenman Gaming, the Humble Store, GameStop, and the Epic Games Store. It'll be up for pre-order on the Rockstar Games Launcher on October 9th and the rest on October 23rd, with Rockstar saying that the game will also be a Google Stadia launch title.

You might notice a glaring omission from that list of platforms, as Steam isn't present on it. Red Dead Redemption 2 is still coming to Steam, but it'll be launching there later than it will be on other platforms. Happily, Steam users won't need to wait six months or a year – it'll instead go live on Steam in December, but Rockstar didn't give a specific release date in its announcement today.

Despite the fact that Red Dead Redemption 2 is launching on a variety of digital distribution services, Rockstar really wants you to pre-order through its own game launcher. Those who pre-order the game through October 22nd on the Rockstar Games Launcher will get to pick two free PC titles from a list that includes GTA 3, GTA: Vice City, GTA: San Andreas, Bully: Scholarship Edition, LA Noire: The Complete Edition, and Max Payne 3: The Complete Edition.

It's worth pointing out that those who download the Rockstar Games Launcher by Tuesday, October 8th automatically get a free copy of GTA: San Andreas, so you could potentially get three additional games by downloading the launcher and pre-ordering RDR 2 through it. "Pre-purchases made on the Rockstar Games Launcher also include free upgrades to the Premium Editions of Red Dead Redemption 2, with both the Special Edition and Ultimate Edition discounted by $20 each," Rockstar explains in a blog post on its website.

Rockstar will also hand out in-game items to those who pre-order Red Dead Redemption 2 through its launcher, including the Outlaw Survival Kit, War Horse, Treasure Map, and Cash Bonus (all of which are for story mode), along with 50 Gold Bars for use in Red Dead Online. The bonuses for pre-ordering through anywhere else only amount to 25 Gold Bars, so that really stresses Rockstar's preference for its own platform.

It won't be long before we learn more about the PC version of Red Dead Redemption 2, as Rockstar says it will share some screenshots from it on October 9th. Hopefully this means that we'll eventually get a PC port of the original Red Dead Redemption as well, but for now, we'll just be happy that the franchise is appearing on PC in any capacity.

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