Though Red Dead Redemption was reissued multiple times at retail, Rockstar assures that all players will be able to play their digital and disc-based copies “regardless of which version of the game they own.”
Released in 2010, Red Dead Redemption puts players in control of John Marston, an outlaw conned into helping the U.S. government track down his former cohorts. The game won acclaim for its unique Wild West setting and its open-ended gameplay, which recalls Rockstar’s previous work with the Grand Theft Auto series.
This week’s official confirmation of backward compatibility arrives after Red Dead Redemption briefly surfaced as an Xbox One-compatible title earlier this year. While some Xbox One owners were able to successfully download and play digital copies of Red Dead Redemption during a brief window of availability, compatibility for the game was pulled shortly after it mistakenly went live on Microsoft’s servers.
“Due to an error, some of the games currently in test were accidentally made available,” Microsoft’s Larry Hyrb wrote following February’s botched launch. “We have since removed access to those games, and apologize for any confusion this may have caused.”
Rumors of a Red Dead Redemption sequel reignited recently with the purported leak of Red Dead Redemption 2‘s world map. While sources claimed that the map features locations from a prequel currently in development, publisher Rockstar has yet to officially announce plans for a follow-up.
Players who own digital copies of Red Dead Redemption for the Xbox 360 will be able to download Xbox One-compatible versions this Friday, July 8. This week’s backward-compatibility update will also extend to retail copies of the game, including the Undead Nightmare expansion and Red Dead Redemption: Game of the Year Edition.
