Red Dead Redemption Now Backwards Compatible

It turns out maybe that small mistake some months ago was more of a leak than an error? With Microsoft pushing its backwards compatibility initiative on the Xbox One, people were wondering why Rockstar didn't jump on the bandwagon. Red Dead Redemption popped up as a backwards compatible title a while back, but was swiftly removed and Rockstar declared it an error on Microsoft's part.

The Xbox 360 and PS3 classic achieved legendary popularity back when it was released. An open-world adventure game set in a fictional corner of the wild west, it followed the exploits of John Marston, a former outlaw whose family is held hostage by the government in exchange for Marston's services as a freelancer mercenary, tasked with hunting down his former associates.

Fans and hopeful onlookers alike have been begging Rockstar to release a PC version of the game pretty much since release, seeing as it has been universally acclaimed by both reviewers and fans. Red Dead Redemption has always been lauded as being basically "Grand Theft Horse", but this little joke was always meant in a positive manner.

Now, finally the game is confirmed to be coming to Xbox One via Microsoft's backwards compatibility initiative. RDR is slated for backwards compatibility release on the 8th of July, this Friday. This suggests that the slip up a few months ago wasn't as accidental as Rockstar would have fans believe.

This release allows former fans who have upgraded and consequently sold their old consoles and new prospective players alike experience the game in full glory — provided they play on Xbox One. Unfortunately, the game isn't coming to PS4, nor is there any news on a PC release.

However, that latter hope has an ever greater chance for becoming reality. With the recently announced "Windows Play Everywhere" feature, Microsoft is bridging the gap between Xbox and PC, making the prospect of cross-compatible games more and more likely. Couple this with backwards compatibility, and RDR coming to PC has just gotten more likely than ever before.

Seems fitting, as it has been pretty much guaranteed by various sources that Red Dead 3 is the next big project Rockstar is working on behind closed doors. A tragedy seemingly prevented them from revealing the game at E3 this year, however that doesn't make the rumors and leaks any less plausible.

Are you excited about getting a chance to play Red Dead Redemption on Xbox One, or are you more hyped by the prospect of an eventual PC release?