With the recent delay of Red Dead Redemption 2, the question being asking by fans is why? The answer that Rockstar has given is that the game needed more polish, and that answer was recently confirmed by CEO Strauss Zelnick of Take Two Interactive.
Zelnick said in a recent conference call that that all of their labels strive to reach an apex of perfection at release, and in this case Rockstar felt it needed a little more time. While Zelnick believes that this date will hold and there will be no further delays, one analyst on the call asked if there may be another reason.
That reason is a potential release on other platforms like PC or Nintendo Switch. So will Red Dead Redemption 2 release on Nintendo Switch or PC? Zelnick’s answer somewhat deferred the question to Rockstar Games.
Red Dead Redemption doesn’t have a strong track record of releasing on other platforms. Back in 2010, Red Dead Redemption released only on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. While fans pleaded with the developers to release on PC, it never happened. Even during the remastering trend of a couple years ago, we never saw an updated Red Dead Redemption for the current generation.
While the PC could definitely be the host for the definitive edition of Red Dead Redemption 2, it’s not a certainty that it will release there. If it does, PC players could be in for a bit of wait if history repeats itself. The PC version of Grand Theft Auto V didn’t arrive until 2015. As for a Nintendo Switch version of Red Dead Redemption 2, this sounds even less likely. The under-powered hardware of the console might not be strong enough to support the game and it would likely need to make visual fidelity sacrifices.
Zelnick’s comments do leave the door open though as he didn’t outright say yes or no.
