Following the release of "GTA: The Trilogy — Definitive Edition," "Red Dead Redemption" fans are hopeful for an HD remake of the 2010 open world Western. Considered one of the best games of the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 era, "Red Dead Redemption" was followed up by a sequel in 2018, which also came with the multiplayer "Red Dead Online." Both "Red Dead Redemption 2" and its online multiplayer counterpart are still thriving in 2021, which might be part of why Rockstar won't likely turn its attention to another remake quite yet. Here are a few reasons why we think Rockstar won't remake "Red Dead Redemption."
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00:00Red Dead Redemption fans continue to hold out hope for a chance to revisit John Marston's
00:05fateful adventures in an HD remake. However, there are a number of reasons why a remake
00:10just doesn't seem likely right now. Sorry, cowboys.
00:13All you ever done was complain. You can fight, but you can't think.
00:19You can't do it.
00:20Red Dead Redemption 2 came out in 2018, eight years after the original game was released.
00:26While another three years might sound like a long time for fans to wait, it's almost
00:29nothing compared to the actual amount of time in between the two mainline releases in the
00:34series.
00:35When looking at Rockstar's other properties, it took 20 years for Rockstar to put out a
00:39full remaster of Grand Theft Auto III. A remake probably wouldn't require the same amount
00:44of development time that a new title would need, but there are still some problems when
00:48it comes to releasing a game too quickly.
00:50For starters, a remake of the original Red Dead Redemption could take away from the sales
00:55of Red Dead Redemption 2. Even after a few years, the sales for the newest game in the
00:59series are still going strong, which could be due to the fact that every copy of Red
01:04Dead Redemption 2 comes with Red Dead Online as an incentive. It would make more sense
01:09for Rockstar to release a remake once the hype for the current entry starts dwindling,
01:13but not before.
01:15Red Dead Online is still doing relatively well, and Rockstar may want to give the platform
01:19more support. According to Steam Charts, most months see a peak of around 6,000 players
01:23at any moment. Rockstar might decide to pour out more content and updates for the game,
01:28especially now that it's seen how wildly successful Grand Theft Auto Online continues to be. Considering
01:34that Red Dead Online is basically the cowboy version of GTA Online, complete with group
01:39challenges and gambling mini-games, it would make sense that Rockstar would treat it similarly.
01:44There's plenty to enjoy in Red Dead Online, and more support would give more players incentives
01:48to check it out. With interesting characters like Madame Nazar…
01:52"...Hello, stranger."
01:53"...You don't got the eye. Just an eye for a deal."
01:57"...I told you, go away, old man."
01:59…the story content of the multiplayer game is just as fascinating as taking on blood
02:04money missions. In 2018, Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Hauser told Vulture,
02:09"...we want Red Dead Online to be as robust as Grand Theft Auto Online, so Rockstar may
02:14still have some work to do."
02:15Rockstar has been criticized in the past for oftentimes leaving Red Dead Online on the
02:19backburner, but RDO still has so much potential that the company may not want to add a different
02:24Red Dead project to its plate just yet, which leads to the next point.
02:29While there's no official news on a Red Dead Redemption remake, there's been plenty of
02:33news on other projects from Rockstar. If recent leaks are to be believed, GTA The Trilogy
02:38Definitive Edition was only the beginning of Rockstar's big plans.
02:42Rockstar and Nintendo joined forces in November 2021 to bring some of the developer's iconic
02:47titles to the Nintendo Switch, which some sources believe could include Red Dead Redemption.
02:52Of course, it wouldn't be a remake. It would be a port of the original version of the game.
02:57Other ports reportedly in the works include Max Payne 3 and Midnight Club, so Rockstar
03:02could be counting on those to tide fans over before the next new Red Dead project.
03:06Meanwhile, Grand Theft Auto 6 is also somewhere in the works, and considering how long fans
03:12have been waiting for that sequel, it's likely that Rockstar would prioritize it over a Red
03:16Dead Redemption remake.
03:17"...I'm afraid."
03:19Remakes tend to come along when the original version of a game is way in the rearview mirror.
03:24For instance, Nintendo released Metroid Samus Returns into an era where the original version
03:28of Metroid II has become significantly harder to track down and play. By that point, 26
03:34years have passed between the original and Samus Returns, and technology allowed the
03:38devs to make the new version an almost entirely new experience.
03:42However, despite being more than a decade removed from the release of Red Dead Redemption,
03:47and despite its status as a modern classic, the game is still pretty easy to come by.
03:52Red Dead Redemption is available on both last-gen and current-gen Xbox consoles, and PlayStation
03:57players can play it through the PlayStation Now subscription service. Since players still
04:01have access to the game through current-gen consoles, there's less of an argument to be
04:05made for crafting a new take on Red Dead Redemption from scratch.
04:09While remaking the first game, Red Dead Redemption 3 could come out first. In fact, this is a
04:14project that fans have already been clamoring for. Some gamers have expressed their hopes
04:18for a third game that picks up after the events of the first installment, while others have
04:22argued that another prequel would make perfect sense for the series' timeline. In Dan Houser's
04:272018 Vulture interview, he said that if Red Dead Redemption 2 sold well, then the company
04:32would certainly look at making a third Redemption game.
04:35Considering Red Dead Redemption 2 broke series records, it's safe to say a third game will
04:39most likely be on the way at some point. Although Rockstar lost Houser in 2020, his comments
04:45would seem to suggest that Rockstar would most likely prioritize a Red Dead 2 sequel
04:50over a Red Dead Redemption remake. And given the past release times between Red Dead games,
04:55Red Dead Redemption 3 might be a long way off, putting any potential remake even further
05:00out, if it's even being planned at all.