‘Red Dead Redemption’ Now Runs On PC Via Emulation


While there have been plenty of console exclusive titles that have not made their way to the PC, one of the most sought-after and requested games is Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption, which released in 2010 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

An action adventure game set in the Wild West, Red Dead Redemption has often been compared to the Grand Theft Auto series, due to its emphasis on open-world exploration, similar physics and controls, and its use of cinematic cutscenes. Unfortunately, while most of Rockstar’s other titles have been released on PC at some point or another, Red Dead Redemption hasn’t received the same treatment. As of now, the only way to experience the game is by playing on last generation hardware, or through the Xbox One’s backward compatibility feature.

All of that might be about to change, as the development team behind the PS3 emulator, RPCS3, has managed to get the game up and running in their newest build. It’s worth nothing, that while the game does boot up and load into the single-player story, there are still plenty of bugs and glitches to be ironed out, including artwork, character models, and textures which don’t load, and very low in-game framerates, as shown off in a recently released video.

Screenshot of Jon Marston arresting an outlaw
[Image by Rockstar Games]

While this might not seem like a milestone success to most, the team has explained just how far they’ve come over the years, via a brief summary of their progress in the description section of the video.

Until just a few days ago Red Dead Redemption would only load up to the main menu and show a few frames before hanging. Some persistent users could quickly get ingame from there, but once again it would only show a few frames before hanging. With recent improvements to graphics emulation thanks to Jarves the game can now continue to run without hanging and we can finally go ingame and control the (sometimes invisible) character.

As explained above, the development team is not trying to alter or modify any of the files within Red Dead Redemption, but rather, continue to work on the code for the RPCS3 emulator, which will (hopefully) allow the game to run more smoothly. Still, emulation is very computationally demanding. As detailed on the emulator’s website, the minimum requirements far exceed those of a simple laptop or netbook, and to get the most out of the emulator, a high-end CPU is required, which can cost anywhere from $250 and up.

A screenshot showing Jon Marston on horseback
[Image by Rockstar Games]

Still, while playing Red Dead Redemption on your gaming rig might still be a few years off, there are plenty of other games which are perfectly playable as of now, including Catherine,JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure HD, and Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown.

For those who would rather not fiddle around with emulation, you’ll be glad to know that the long-awaited sequel to Red Dead Redemption is due out next year on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Unfortunately, much like its predecessor, there has been no word on an official PC release.

[Featured Image by Rockstar Games]

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