The brand new Red Dead Redemption re-release has a major issue affecting tons of players at launch. What was announced as a free, current-gen upgrade for most people, has turned into a big, frustrating situation. Communication between various parties and the public is also a big problem. We’ll be diving into what on earth is going on.
The Promise
Last month, Rockstar Games announced that Red Dead Redemption was getting a newly spruced up edition for all platforms. They specifically stated in a Newswire blog post that “Current owners on PS4, Nintendo Switch, or the digital backward compatible version on Xbox One will be able to upgrade digitally for free.”
This means those that own either the physical or digital copy of the PS4/Switch version of the game or a digital copy of the Xbox 360 game can get this enhanced port for free.
The Reality
However, gamers who quickly went to claim their free upgrade on launch day have been met with problems. Whilst the Switch 2 and digital PS5 entitlement is working as intended, almost every Xbox user and some physical PlayStation copy owners cannot get the upgrade for free.
The Execution
On the Xbox issue, fans have enmasse contacted Rockstar Support. Some agents or AI chat bots working for Rockstar have told some the gamers to contact Microsoft support. In response, Microsoft support teams have sold those sent over to them to get back into contact with Rockstar.
Meanwhile others in contact with Rockstar support have been given another response. It tells them “this entitlement does not extend to the Xbox 360 digital version” and only the Xbox One version. There is no Xbox One version; only an Xbox 360 version that is backwards compatible… With zero communication from Rockstar outside of support, this has been handled poorly.
Xbox users can download this new version using the mobile app. The Xbox app lets anyone download and install any game. Search for Red Dead Redemption, select the new version, and you can install it. However, it is still prompting people to buy it rather than get a free upgrade.
Furthermore, the original Xbox 360 version cannot be purchased on its own anymore. It can be claimed via GTA+ or included in the purchase of the new, Xbox Series X|S version.
Fixed
With this botched launch, some fans are questioning if they will ever get the free upgrade and Rockstar made a mistake last month. According to some users who have spoken with Xbox support, this is a technical issue and the aim is to have this resolved by some point on Wednesday December 3rd.
UPDATE: Rockstar Support say “We are aware of an issue where Xbox players are unable to upgrade their digital Xbox 360 version of Red Dead Redemption to the Xbox Series X|S version and are working with Microsoft to resolve it. Thank you for your patience.”
For more Red Dead Redemption news updates, stay tuned to RockstarINTEL.
Interested in diving deeper into Red Dead Redemption and the real history it is based on? Red Dead’s History is a book by Professor Tore C. Olsson and it explores how close the games are to real world history. Order your copy here or learn more here.
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4 Comments
You say “all platforms” but the upgrade is not available for the PC players.
There’s nothing to upgrade. The PC version that released last year had all of these features. This new version uses the PC features.
All you had to do, was read into it more than just the first page that came up.
The PC version currently being sold on Steam and Rockstar Social Club is what’s being ported to current gen consoles X/S, PS5 and Netflix games subscription and Nintendo Switch