Red Dead Redemption publisher Take-Two Interactive lifted the lid on all of the remaster/remake rumors earlier this week, revealing a PS4 and Nintendo Switch port that has gone down like a lead balloon with the fanbase. On top of the general disappointment that the port will be locked to 30fps, will have no graphical improvements, and will have the multiplayer stripped out, the asking price has been a big topic of debate, as Take-Two is asking fans part with $49.99/£39.99 if they want to play Red Dead Redemption on PS4 or Switch.
That's obviously quite a bit of cash for a port of a game that can be bought for a fraction of the price if you search for a pre-owned copy on Xbox 360. Take-Two attempted to justify it during the announcement by pointing to the Undead Nightmare DLC and Game of the Year edition content that will be included, but that hasn't satisfied fans. Take-Two isn't budging on the price though, with CEO Strauss Zelnick even going so far as to claim that the port is actually "great value for consumers" and that the port's pricing is "commercially accurate".
"That's just what we believe is the commercially accurate price for it," said Zelnick in response to a question regarding the pricing from IGN. When asked whether Undead Nightmare is the reason for the high price, Zelnick said that the expansion "was a great standalone game in its own right when it was originally released, so we feel like it's a great bundle for the first time, and certainly a great value for consumers."
Of course, Zelnick doesn't address the fact that the Xbox version of Red Dead Redemption with Undead Nightmare only costs a combined $39.98 on the storefront, and that's with improved performance, 4k visuals, and the multiplayer still included. However, he does respond to IGN's question about a potential PC release, as fans of the platform are still baffled as to why it isn't available. He doesn't outright deny it, but says that he leaves game release announcements up to the developers of the games.
We'll have to wait and see whether Take-Two or Rockstar budges on the rather contentious pricing or PC release, though it sounds like they're standing rather firm. Thankfully, a physical release of the PS4 and Nintendo Switch port will be releasing in October later this year, so we shouldn't be waiting too long before we see a significant price drop on the physical side. All you need to do is wait a little longer to save some cash, or maybe just go buy a pre-owned copy right now for ten bucks.