Red Dead Redemption was a landmark achievement in game design, one that few studios have managed to replicate in the more than a decade since the cowboy epic was released. But, like the age of the Wild West itself, Red Dead Redemption has become a relic of a bygone era, with the title no longer playable on modern PlayStation platforms after its removal from Sony's streaming service.
Red Dead Redemption was released on PlayStation Now in 2016, and that service would eventually be subsumed into what is now PS Plus Premium. Both the base game and its excellent standalone expansion, Undead Nightmare, were only ever released on PS3, which means that your busted old disc won't work on PS5, or even PS4, for that matter, relegating the title to the dustbin of history, especially with that rumoured remaster reportedly shelved.
As it stands, the only way to relive John Marston's original adventure on current consoles is via Xbox Series and Xbox One platforms. They've got fancy enhanced editions, too, which present the venerable titles in glorious 4K. Credit where it's due, that kind of digital archiving is pretty awesome and something we wish PlayStation made more of a focus.
What do you think of the passing of Red Dead Redemption from PlayStation platforms? Is it really that big a deal? Reminisce with us of ages gone by in the comments section below.
[source twitter.com, via eurogamer.net]
Comments 74
Not really a big deal..it will upset some people but seeing as most people think the older generation consoles are holding back the ps5 devs maybe its a good thing to stop wasting resources on flogging these dead horses and start focusing on this gen 100%...
Busted old disc? Not sure how you personally treat your stuff but my ps3 physical disc and console work just fine. That being said, a ps4/5 version would be welcome.
It’s hardly a sign of the times, this was the case until the ps2 released, with the ps3 following suite. Prior to that Ninty had some add ons and Sega some spin off consoles I think that allowed playing older game.
As I get closer to death, and my backlog gets ever bigger, the idea of playing old games matters less and less.
@thefourfoldroot1 jesus bud..how old are you? In 11 days i hit the big 50..i feel as good as i ever have and i hope i've got a few more decades left before i start thinking about permanent hibernation lol..enjoy each day as much as you can 👍
I havent played it in many years and still have my ps3 and disc (somewhere buried under a lot of stuff) so I could still play it if I really wanted to but I would prefer if Sony made a digital games archive of ”all” the ps3 games we could stream on newer consoles and let the games be on there for ever.
This is why Sony should work on backwards compatibility, anyone new to gaming will miss out on such great games
"Busted old disc"? I have immaculate copies of both the original game and the "Undead Nightmare" expansion along with a fully functioning 60GB PS3 hooked up and ready to go if I ever want to play them. Now off you go to bed without any supper, young man.
Its a pity instead of splashing out on timed exclusive dlc for RDR Online,that Sony didn't help fund a ps4/5 remaster or remake! 😕
But then again could say the same for the likes of several in-house ps3 games ala LBP 1&2, LBP Karting,Sly Cooper HD Trilogy,the early Ratchet ps3 games etc.
I'd love to play RDR/Undead Nightmare on ps4/5, but not if it got the cash grab abysmal treatment of the GTA Trilogy "Definitive edition" remaster lacking so many of the iconic songs & essentially a remastered mobile port.
Not to mention far better efforts than the disused ps2 classics emulation that has yet to see any new ps2 classics on PS Deluxe,& an underwhelming ps1 emulation thus far.
Contrary to some of the above opinions, I think this is a bigger problem than some are willing to admit.
Even if you don’t want to play an old game it should still matter.
Why?
Because a classic game that was playable on PS4/5 for the past few years is now unplayable on those consoles. A game has been lost and that’s never a good thing.
I owned this game on my PS3, and I would still own it today if I could play it on my PS4/5.
In contrast, if I had instead bought the Xbox 360 version I could not only still play it today on my Xbox Series X, but enjoy it with enhanced 4K visuals.
I didn’t need to do anything as a consumer except enjoy the free treat Xbox gave me, but with Sony I missed out based on the console I bought it on.
I’m a multi platform gamer. But I can assure you my purchase of Xbox 360 and Xbox One games has increased now because of all the 4K and 60fps enhancements on Series X with backwards compatibility. Yet I have sold some of those same games on PS4 because they haven’t got the same upgrades on PS5.
My PS5 is becoming a Sony exclusives machine because of how badly they have handled backwards compatibility. And because I can buy one game version on Xbox and it works on Xbox one and Xbox Series X. Instead of buying two separate versions for PS4/PS5.
I know this is a PlayStation site, but Xbox is actually doing great things for past generation game support and game preservation. And as someone who owns both, it makes a difference.
The irony is you could literally put a busted old 360 disc into an Xbox One/Series X and the game can fully work. So long as the small section of the disc containing the licence check info is damage free then the game will download and can be played, even if the rest of the disc is unreadable.
@Kienda Great comment.
i also have the original disc on ps3 but this is why cloud gaming cannot be standard for the future, nothing can last on the service and playing older games will be lost in the past forever, emulation is the only way to preserve older games when publishers/devs couldn't give a dam about historic games smdh
Just buy a PS3 and experience it the way it was made. I've got a PS2 with a growing collection of games for whenever I need to scratch the retro itch.
I've got it for Xbox along with undead nightmare , undead nightmare has an annoying headless glitch though that was never patched
@Would_you_kindly Is that the GOTY edition? I've been playing the standalone version via BC on Series X and haven't had any issues.
@LN78 yeah goty edition
Lair is the real tragedy if you ask me...
I refuse to play games via stream so this doesn't mean anything to me. I wish R* made remake though. If that won't happen and Bethesda games will be xbox exclusive, i will have to buy xbox
@Northern_munkey ….how on earth is keeping a retro game available on a platform holding back the current PS5 generation? That is literally the most non-sensical thing I’ve ever read on this site.
Keeping old games accessible is important and worthwhile endeavor and its a shame to read this news.
@Northern_munkey Harsh, but I like it.
Sony's already shown that they'll remove PS3 games just so they can add them back to much praise. So I wouldn't count Red Dead Redemption as out forever.
@Dr_Luigi @Kienda Wow I thought I was the only one thinking about this. I literally thought that BC and game preservation was not a big deal to well almost anyone. I got a Series S back when it got released and bought the some older Sega games there that are not available in ps4 for some reason. And after I bought the Steam Deck it only got worse. There are tons of stuff there like all Final Fantasy games although some stuff from Sega are missing from some reason. My ps5 moves towards an exclusive sony games machine.
@Northern_munkey lol, i know what you mean. I got 8 years on you but im planning for another 30!
Like you , im more concerned about play ng new stuff than revisiting old, so im not distressed by this 😂
@thefourfoldroot1 @Northern_munkey @Titntin Aww you guys are making me feel like a 39 year old baby 😊
@Kienda I could not agree more with everything you just wrote.
I love my brand new PS5 (finally managed to got one two months ago), and I'm enjoying it for all these delightfull exclusives Sony titles, but the reason that drove me first to Xbox, for this gen, was the way they handled retrogaming.
I was not even so much interested in their gamepass subscription ; for me, it was all bout their backward compatibility efforts.
To be able to insert your old Xbox 360 disc, or even Xbox (as in : the very first xbox console) and to be able to play this game on your brand new system, for no extra fee at all, and most of the time with improved visuals and everything ? It was too good to be true.
And yet, it was. It was true.
I use my KOTOR I and II Xbox discs very often. My Panzer Dragoon Orta disc, too. The Witcher 2. The FFXIII Trilogy (to play it in 4K AND in 60 FPS for the last two of them). And so, so much more...
And the same goes for Red Dead Redemption. Still having it on disc. Works like a charm.
As much as I love Playstation and its incredible solo games, Sony could really inspire itself from this aspect of its direct competitor.
@Northern_munkey
Lol, imminently turning 40, but still feel the days counting down. Enough that I don’t want to waste time replaying stuff I’ve already played anyway.
@thefourfoldroot1 Out of interest do you only ever see movies, watch TV shows or read books once and once only?
@LN78
Pretty much yes. I’ll keep something like Friends on in the background but not sit down and watch it as such; might do the same for some films. Something like Burlesque where I might like the music or imagery…will never, ever, read a book again.
This is fine if they do the remaster, but I think its not happening anymore. Its a shame really.
I played that game and the DLC so much when it came out that this doesn't bother me per se, but I do like to have the option!
Really showcases the importance of the rumoured remaster that was cancelled. There are so many multiplatform franchises where if you want to experience most or all of the franchise you need PC/XB1/Series X|S because of the backwards compatibility situation.
The whole Assassin's Creed PS+ Extra/Premium mess recently is another big example if you're into that franchise. PC/XB1/Series X|S has the whole franchise meanwhile PS4/PS5 is missing AC1 and a few games are broken on PS5 like AC Syndicate.
@Kienda Couldn't agree more. I know that BC isn't perfect on Xbox too with MANY games from the OG/360 era not available at all unless you still own the disc and hardware to play it on, but that's what happens when 'Game Preservation' was never considered.
Any BC was more to make transitioning more appealing - especially in the early days of a 'new' console when games were extremely thin on the ground - trade your old console with 'lots' of games for a 'new' console with only 1-2 games you want to play.
As the game library grows, the Platform holder wants you buying 'new' games as that increases their profits, not playing 'old' games you can pick up on Ebay giving them NO money. There is 'little' incentive to want to support BC any longer than 'necessary' to get people to upgrade to the new system and buying 'new' games to benefit that system.
I too have always been a Multi-platform gamer - having owned every gen Playstation and Xbox, as well as numerous Nintendo, Sega consoles and PC's too. I go where the games I want to play are and I am never 'desperate' enough to pay £70 for something to play (regardless of whether its a Game of the Year contender or not) - especially with a 'huge' library of unplayed or unfinished games. Why spend £70 to fill my gaming time when I don't have enough gaming time to play ALL the games I want to start and/or finish I already have access to.
I would say my PS5 is literally just for exclusives, but I am 'protesting' the Price increases with my wallet and refusing to buy ANY game over a certain price point. I don't 'normally' buy used/2nd hand, but I will with Sony's Exclusives so whilst it is becoming an 'exclusives' only console, its also not being used to play the latest at launch or contributing to Sony. I also refuse to pay for 'PS5' upgrades too.
Most of my Favourite games from 3rd Party devs - like RDR or AC for example, I ended up with both the PS3/360 versions of anyway so I could play on either system as I had each in a different room. If the kids were watching TV in one room, I could play in another.
I must admit, I do tend to play 'native' console releases first and foremost with last gen (XB1/PS4) barely getting a look in - unless I really want to finally finish something I started and 'older' era games never get re-played. BC never really bothered me after a few months and I have built up a reasonable collection of 'new' games to play but I also believe that these games should be 'preserved' and remain playable. Just because I lived through that era, played the games I wanted, doesn't mean that future generations should not get the chance.
@Bobobiwan Except its not universal is it?
I was taken in by promises of 360 backwards compatibility, so I bought PGR 3 and 4 to play, just last week.
They don't work.
Only titles that have had patches written work, so games like Project Gotham Racing, with no patches, don't play and will simply die.
Good job I'm not bothered with old games, I'll either emulate or play them on an old machine. Whilst Sony didn't go through making a half job of preserving some games, they at least made some new titles for their machine, something noticeably absent from Xbox. Two years waiting for a title that shows off 'the power' and nothing yet. I'd have preferred if they hadn't bothered with old games and just delivered some new! At least we might get some next year.....
Sony should do more with backwards compatibility, dumping the ps1, psp and ps2 digital games that are currently stuck on the ps3 digital store front on the ps4/5 store would be a good place to start.
you would have to assume it was barely being played
@Northern_munkey I am 54 next month and i feel great! No illness or decreasing mental faculties. I will be found dead holding a ps controller in my hands lol.
I own RDR on PS3 & it's DLC, RDR was never playable on the PS4/PS5 it was only ever a streamable game. Streaming 3rd party game's on a service does not guarantee the game will always be streamable on any service. As for backwards compatibility there is a reason Microsoft no longer does it and that's licensing, also not every game support's HDR/Frame Rate Boost sadly on XSX. If you see a backwards compatibility game you want on Xbox you better buy it, as BC are not guaranteed to stay a BC game to buy. Example Metal Gear Soild HD Collection you could buy I bought it, it's no longer buyable only playable if you own the disc of the game. These games are only playable on streaming services or to buy through BC if the publisher wants it to be available. Also people knew the PS4 wasn't BC with PS3 games, if you still wanted them games why sell them & the PS3? I never sell my consoles or game's to only get the fraction of the price back no thanks.
@Bobobiwan considering how different the architecture of ps3 was compared to ps4 and ps5 as opposed to xbx consoles, Sony simply couldn't follow MS' example. Not unless they create a time machine and make a different ps3.
@Sqush-Pare I actually did that to be able to play some of the PS3 games I still have since I stupidly sold my original PS3 years ago, but you really shouldn't have to. I still have my Xbox 360 and Xbox One X, but I'd still be fine if I had sold them since I can play a large percentage of the games on my Series X. It would be great if you could do the same on the PS5, but that's not possible of course.
Do I care that I can't play RDR anymore? No, as while I loved it back in the day, I'm good on ever replaying it. I don't have the time with all of the other games I have still left to play.
This feels similar to Sony embracing ‘games-as-a-service’ — the old enthusiast group (like the Push Square legion) wants Sony to stick with tradition when they are forging ahead in the new shifting market. I too hate that Sony are doing that, by the way, but I suspect it’s a vocal minority that want retro games preserved in perpetuity. The vast majority of revenue is going to be linked to new game sales, subscription services, and GaaS with microtransactions.
I’m not saying I like it, mind you. But I just think the number of people throwing away their PS4 and PS5 and running to Xbox because of game preservation is a drop in the bucket. Just like those of us begging Sony to keep the focus on offline single player games and stay clear of GaaS appear to also be a rare and dying breed. The new rising generation of gamers who make up the majority of dollars spent are all playing new, online, service games.
That's the danger of online services as the only way to have a game
It really is a shame the PS3 was built so weird. But yeah, the big feather in Xbox’s cap for me is backwards compatibility, and examples like this are why.
Just because some of you don’t care about having older games available to play in a convenient and simple way doesn’t mean everyone is like that.
I love how many PlayStation fanboys are claiming that they don't care about this. It's a pathetic attitude. Playing RDR on Xbox is an amazing experience, especially with the frame rate and resolution improvements.
Whilst Xbox BC isn't perfect, it's absolutely the reason Sony made the effort to ensure PS4 games were natively playable on PS5. It's the reason Sony have made previous PlayStation generations a focus of the new PS+.
Very disappointed, I started Undead Nightmare last week, only to be told it was about to leave the service. RDR is truly a masterpiece, still a joy to play today. Not many games can touch the acting and script, the sound design, the environments.
Surely a port of the Xbox or PC version to PS4/PS5 is reasonably possible? Lots of people would lap it up.
This has even got me considering an Xbox. Things must be serious.
37 old child here.
RDR2 was fantastic.
I skipped ps3, and now I'd consider trying rdr1.
But in reality, I'll forget about it as soon as I get my hands on new God of War. Or dlc for Elden ring.
Or, maybe I actually play that damn Horizon Forbidden West, as it seemed to be very good gameplay-wise.
This is a damn shame to hear, especially after the reports earlier in the year that Rockstar shelved RDR1 & RDR2 remasters to focus entirely on GTA6.
Hopefully they'll change their minds by 2023-2024 and release upgraded versions anyways.
Barely have time to play all the new games... RED1 was nowhere near my PS5/PC play list
Glad I bought a used RDR disc from GameStop for $3 that one time 🤙🏽
@Th3solution Prescription services???
@bananamal sorry i didnt make myself clearer as i was on about the much touted remaster but i didnt know it was cancelled..it was very early in the morning and i didnt read that bit properly..appologies for any misunderstanding..
@ColdHandGee @Shepherd_Tallon @thefourfoldroot1 @Titntin here's to us middle aged gamers...👍
@Northern_munkey
I'll take middle aged! I like that...
Not that anyone recognises my age, but I'd of thought the fact I'm still rocking a mohawk from the late 70's is a bit of a give away...
@Titntin @Northern_munkey 😎✌️
Another reason why All-Digital & Cloud Gaming SHOULDN"T be the future, it doesn't benefit gaming in the slightest, it simply lessens the options people have to play games how they want to, and the developers can remove games whenever they want over really dumb reasons and we have zero control, we simply have to take it on the chin and accept it, but some stupidly believe "This is great for gamers!' when it really isn't.
They supposedly scrapped plans for a Red Dead Redemption Remaster to focus efforts on GTA 6, but surely they could have delegated the Remaster to a small team like Naughty Dog did with The Last of Us Remake, Rockstar has 2000+ Employees, just delegate a team of 50-100 people and make it happen.
Honestly I'd much rather a Red Dead Redemption Remaster, Bully Remake & Bully 2 over GTA6, after GTA5, I don't much interest in GTA6, in my opinion; GTA San Andreas was the last GREAT GTA game, every other subsequent GTA game was simply okay.
I'm really loving this comments section because of the @thefourfoldroot1 sub-plot. 😂🤣
I use my Series S for older games. Happy to have Panzer Dragoon Orta, Banjo Kazooie Nut and Bolts and ReCore on one machine.
I have for my PS3, and it plays splendidly! 😁
I’m not that into bc anyway. I buy a next gen console to experience games not possible on last gen hardware. And I’m sure 80% are the same?
the xbox series and xbox one consoles dont use the data off the disc they check a licence them make you download the whole game digitally.
I mean, lots of people decrying cloud gaming, digital gaming, or saying just hook up your old ass PS3.
Meanwhile I can stick my 360 disc of Red Dead I got 12 years ago into my series X and play the way better version of the game with improved framerate, resolution and load times effortlessly.
Sucks to suck I guess.
As much as I loved the unique and quirky PS3 (it’s my second favorite PlayStation after PS2)… Damn that console has really come back to hurt Sony in so many ways.
Ken Kutaragi, as influential as he was, destroyed BC for future Sony consoles by forcing his vision on the PlayStation brand. The PS3 was his baby. And it seems like its massive amazing library will be stuck on there for good.
I never played the first game but RDR2 is a beautiful masterpiece and I would love to play this game on the next-gen console....maybe one day
This is a misleading headline.
Slightly off topic, but second hand ps3s are pretty cheap at the moment. Like £50, and half of that price is the controller, as they sell for like £20 individually. The only way is up for them I'd imagine. The games are a mix though, some bargains and some creeping upwards.
Edit : one thing I'd personally really enjoy, is if you owned ps premium, you could download the games you can stream onto an actual ps3. I doubt it'd be that hard to implement as it's all still linked I assume. Prob not mainstream enough for Sony to consider worthwhile though.
Meh, it looks like garbage compared to rdr2, if I'm going to replay a Red dead, it would be that one.
@Mikey856 👌
@Titntin I have tried to give myself a reason to buy a Xbox several times, but I have a high end PC and there is literally nothing I want to play that isn't either on PS5 or PC, so why bother with Xbox.
@Denni5m exactly my feelings. RDR2 is light years ahead of anything in RDR
@Denni5m I understand. I have two PS5's and a 1900K 3090 PC as well.
But I prefer to do most of my gaming on console and Gamepass xbox>Game pass PC by a big margin, so for me, its a no brainer and I'm happy to have all options. Appreciate that wont work for all people
@Barryburton97 there is no PC version, only Xbox 360 and PS3, It runs on Xbox at 4K 60fps thanks to Microsoft and its backcompat team R* did nothing with the exception of authorizing the game to be backward compatible.
Oh no. I can no longer play a game that I haven't played in 11 years.
Hi @get2sammyb
@ShogunRok
@Quintumply
@LiamCroft
Sony has also changed this week how it displays games leaving soon on PS Plus
Before you could see the leave date but now you cant. Rez Infnite is leaving soon but no one knows when. I wasn't sure if this would be worth an article but I sent examples to Liams messages on Twitter. As his DM are open and just dropping message here too.
Just hoping the issue can be raised and fixed. As it's annoying not knowing when games will leave now. It's been like this since the games refreshed
@Northern_munkey
@ColdHandGee @Shepherd_Tallon @thefourfoldroot1 @Titntin
Perhaps there's more to this gaming than we realised and it's keeping us all rejuvenated. Here's to going from Atari to PSX. (or whatever they're gonna call PlayStation 10)
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