It’s been a crazy 48 hours for the gaming world. Amongst the slew of recent leaks stemming from some poorly redacted FTC vs. Microsoft court documents, astute gamers have noticed a potential confirmation of a native Red Dead Redemption 2 PS5 and Xbox Series release.
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Before we go further, it’s important to note that these leaks are not always a firm confirmation of any release. Things can always get postponed, transformed into a new product, or cancelled entirely. That being said, let’s get into the nitty gritty details.
In a handful of emails dated from May of 2022, Xbox’s Corporate Vice President Sarah Bond laid out a list of potential acquisitions for Game Pass. Among other options such as Dying Light 2 and Just Dance, Bond included “T2/RDR2.” At first blush, this might just seem like the company is looking to include the base game in PC Game Pass, but on the same line the release window reads as “D&D for gen9.” D&D likely means day-and-date in this case, but gen9 is the part that really matters.
Gen9 is an abbreviation for 9th generation, which includes the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Up until now, Red Dead Redemption 2 has only been released as a PS4 and Xbox One game. Enthusiasts have been clamoring for a modern-gen release of the game for years now, but Rockstar has remained entirely radio silent on the topic. With this latest leak, gamers have a newfound anticipation for an improved version of the game.
What could this updated version of Rockstar’s cowboy masterpiece bring to the table? Higher framerates? Better resolutions? All we can do is speculate currently, but it’s nice to have a glimmer of hope after years of silence.
The email lists the release date for this version as “FY23Q2,” which likely means the second quarter of Xbox’s fiscal year 2023. This quarter ended back in December of 2022, so clearly, the game didn’t hit the speculated release window. This could mean that it’s been delayed or canned entirely, so as always, take all this information with plenty of salt.
If you’re interested in seeing the other FTC leaks, check out our story on Microsoft’s plans for the next Xbox. We also saw leaks of a potential Oblivion remaster, so take a look at that if you’re curious.
If this is true then hopefully RDR 2 is in a playable state, i couldn’t play for more then a few minutes without getting a notification saying an error has occured in the system software.