Rockstar Talks ‘Red Dead 2′, ‘Grand Theft Auto’ Heists & Cross-Platform Play

It’s been a long time since Red Dead Redemption graced gamers’ consoles, after Rockstar’s open world western launched to rave reviews, sold extremely well, and received what’s arguably the greatest DLC expansion pack of all time. Five years later, Take-Two executives claim that Red Dead Redemption is a “permanent franchise” in the same vein as Grand Theft Auto and Borderlands – but Red Dead Redemption 2 remains little more than unsubstantiated rumors and wild speculation. Earlier today, Rockstar released a special edition of their “Asked Answered” column, during which they – once again – addressed whether or not Red Dead will ride again. For gamers who get excited at the mere mention of more Red Dead Redemption, it’s a good day. Everyone else? Hold your horses.

Regarding Red Dead 2, Rockstar simply says that “we don’t always rush to make sequels, but that does not mean we won’t get to them eventually.” That’s a great way of answering a question without actually saying anything; sure, a sequel could happen. That doesn’t mean that it will. As the rep says:

We have so many games we want to make and the issue is always one of bandwidth and timing.

In the end, there’s just not much to go on, and gamers are advised not to read too much into such a vague, evasive comment. Thankfully, the rest of the “Asked Answered” report is more informative, particularly with regards to Grand Theft Auto 5. With the long-awaited multiplayer heists finally nearing release, Rockstar put time aside to explain exactly what took so long:

Heists were a much bigger challenge to create than we had originally anticipated. Early versions were simply not good enough and had to be scrapped more than once as we honed in on how we thought they should work…. We, as a company, have always been about trying to make something that is good rather than hitting a date. We apologize when this gets frustrating but firmly believe that rushing out second-rate content does not do anyone any favors.

That answer doesn’t explain why heists were originally promised so early, given that they weren’t anywhere near ready, but the impulse is commendable. This year’s string of buggy and botched releases was one of the most disappointing things about 2014, and after the past few months, gamers know that it’s a lot more fun to play a finished product than a broken one. In this case, history might be on Rockstar’s side. The studio representative also explained that Rockstar opted for microtransactions over DLC packs in Grand Theft Auto Online because they wanted to give players the option to earn items in-game or pay for them. Forcing DLC on players would split the multiplayer community; this way, everyone can play together, whether they have the additional content or not. Due to memory constraints, Grand Theft Auto 5′s first-person mode won’t ever come to last-generation consoles, and cross-platform play remains a technical impossibility. It’s an odd article in the end; there are far more “no” responses than “yes”, with nearly every answer couched in the kind of fuzzy PR-speak that makes it easy to read more into things than is actually there. A Red Dead Redemption sequel seems inevitable, but sadly, this isn’t the confirmation that everyone’s been waiting for. Source: Rockstar Games

TAGS: Grand Theft Auto, Grand Theft Auto 5, PC, PS3, PS4, Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive, Xbox 360, Xbox One

Rockstar Talks ‘Red Dead 2′, ‘Grand Theft Auto’ Heists & Cross-Platform Play